The AED Superstore Weblog

Update: Philips Onsite & FRx Upgrade Deadline

 

Important Note:  If you have a Philips Heartstart Onsite, Home, or FRx AED that is still running the older AHA Guidelines, time is running out to get your AED upgraded to the newer AHA 2005 Guidelines for CPR.

Philips Healthcare will stop accepting upgrade orders for OnSite, Home, and FRx AEDs on 12/31/2009. Make sure to submit your upgrade order before this date!

Philips will send an upgraded AED first and then you will send back your old AED.  This will allow you to keep the defibrillator in service at all times. Follow this link to download your upgrade forms (PDFor Excel).

We couldn't have put this any better ourselves

LETTER: Every school needs an AED!

Is AED placement a "black art?" It's about response time!

The headline to this post could also read "How many AEDs do I need for my company?" or "How do I know how many AEDs to buy?" Most of these questions follow the same theme. And they can lead to lots of discussion or stress when you try to account for locked and secluded areas of your facility, the number of people who work there, the average employee's age, number of buildings on the property, the location of the closest EMS agency, and on and on.

Ask anyone with good intentions to perform an AED site assessment for you and you'll realize quickly the process fits definition #2 of "black art."

To help you eliminate most "what if" questions, we recommend using the simple 3 to 5 minute "drop to shock" standard found in the American Heart Association's AED Implementation Guide.

This is what it means: place AEDs so that anyone in cardiac arrest anywhere on the premises can receive a shock within 3 to 5 minutes of the onset of the condition. The questions above are no longer as relevant if you understand TIME is the critical factor. If locked doors, elevators, multiple buildings, etc. interfere with a 3 to 5 minute treatment time, then extra devices are recommended.

So where did this rule-of-thumb come from?  The AED implementation Guide was written using results from American Heart Association research. For every minute that defibrillation is delayed, a patient's chance of survival decreases by as much as 10 per cent. A 5 minute AED delay reduces a patient's odds of resuscitation to "50/50."

Response time is precisely the reason EMS agencies nationwide have low cardiac arrest resuscitation rates in the field.

You can bridge the response time gap with enough properly located AEDs at your workplace!

FAQ: What is the long-term cost of AED ownership?

 

One question we are often asked is, "how much is owning an AED going to cost me over the years?" An excellent question! Let's see if we can answer this clearly, and possibly dispel some misconceptions along the way.

After the initial purchase of your AED, the only costs you'll incur, other than the cost of any optional accessories you may desire, will be the cost of consumables:  electrode pads and batteries. One misconception is the feeling that you will be "constantly changing the pads and batteries."  The fact is, even though each manufacturer's electrodes and batteries may vary slightly with regard to price and expiration dates, a good rule of thumb is 2 years for electrodes, 4 - 5 years for batteries. You are going to change the oil in your car more often than that!

One way to figure your long term cost is to take the cost of the electrode pads times 2, and the cost of the battery, add them together, then divide by 4. This will give you your cost per year for your consumables. There are exceptions with the various manufacturers when it comes to electrode pads' shelf-life and battery life expectancy, but this is a good, general equation to amortize your long-term cost of ownership. It is also a good way to help evaluate which AED may be right for you and your AED Program.

Lemme, lemme, lemme upgrade ya!

If your Philips Heartstart OnSite or Heartstart FRx AED is currently using the AHA pre-2005 Guidelines, here is one last chance to get your device upgraded to the current AHA 2005 Guidelines.  Philips Healthcare has extended the window for getting your OnSite or FRx upgraded, but you must submit the Upgrade Request form to Philips by December 31, 2008.  After that date you will no longer be able to get your device upgraded.

You can download the form in either .PDF or Excel format.  The cost is $280.00 per AED.  If you have any questions or concerns, please give us a call at 800-544-0048.  A member of our knowledgeable and courteous staff will be more than happy to assist you. Click here for the latest information regarding your AHA 2005 Guidelines Upgrade information.