HSE recommends AED awareness

The Health and Safety Executive have recently spoken out about AED training and its presence as part of first aid courses.

Whilst it is not compulsory for employers to purchase defibrillators to comply with the Health and Safety (First-Aid) regulations 1981, the HSE has recommended that staff be fully trained to use a defibrillator if your needs assessment identifies an AED requirement.

They have also commented on in-depth training of AEDs which is currently not part of either Emergency First Aid at Work and First Aid at Work courses but welcome the idea of AED awareness training within these courses to instil greater confidence in the units.

Early CPR and the use of a defibrillator can drastically improve a person’s survival chances from a sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) from 6% - 74% if administered within 3-5 minutes. If a defibrillator is used inside 60 seconds a person’s chances increase even further to a massive 90%.

A common misconception about defibrillators is the notion that they can do further damage to a patient but this cannot happen during the rescue process. Modern defibrillators are fitted with a fail safe system which means that if the patient does need shock therapy, the defibrillator simply will not work.

Similarly, defibrillators can only help patients who are experiencing certain heart malfunctions, ventricular fibrillation and ventricular tachycardia, if they are not in either of these conditions the defibrillator will not administer treatment.

As reiterated by the HSE, the Resuscitation Council UK guidance on AEDs is that the equipment is safe enough to be used by untrained bystanders. Training is not essential when it comes to using a defibrillator but having knowledge of the units and how they operate can boost confidence and knowledge.

The HSE says: “AEDs are becoming more prevalent within the wider community. For example there are national strategies in place actively promoting their placement in schools; public places such as stations. Many workplaces have voluntarily invested in this equipment.

Evidence suggests that where AEDs have been used the outcomes are far more favourable for an individual who suffers from a heart attack than if it is delayed until the arrival of the emergency services.”

If you would like more information about the defibrillators we have in our range or you would like to discuss our training courses available, call the defibshop team on 0845 071 0830 and we’ll be more than happy to help.