Automatedexternaldefibrillators(AEDs)AguideforschoolsOctober20192ContentsPurposeandintroduction4Whoisthisguidefor?5Reviewdate5Acknowledgements5Cardiacarrestandheartattacks6Cardiacarrest6Heartattack6Thechainofsurvival8Defibrillationandcardiopulmonaryresuscitation(CPR)9PurchasinganAED10OrderingfromNHSSupplyChainError!Bookmarknotdefined.Locationandaccess13Choosingalocation13InstallingyourAED13Communityaccess15Examplescenarios15ExampleA16ExampleB16Training17Istrainingrequired?17Sourcesoftraining17Raisingawareness17BritishHeartFoundationCPRtrainingpackforsecondaryschools18Additionalconsiderations18Developinganactionplan18Afteranincident19Safetyconsiderations19Legalconsiderations20Accessoriesandconsumables21MaintainingyourAED233Regularmaintenance23Replacingconsumables23Softwareupdates24ReplacingyourAED24Sourcesoffurtherinformation24Departmentaladviceandguidance24Otherpublications25Localambulanceservices25Externalorganisations25AnnexA:AEDminimumspecification26AnnexB:supportarrangementsforAEDspurchasedundertheDfEarrangements304PurposeandintroductionThisguideisintendedtoprovideschoolswithanoverviewofthevariousissuestheymaywishtoconsiderwheninstallingandmaintainingautomatedexternaldefibrillators(AEDs)ontheirpremises.TheinformationprovidedisnotdefinitiveasdecisionsrelatingtothepurchaseandinstallationofAEDsareentirelyforschoolstodetermine.However,wehopethatschoolswillfindtheinformationusefulinunderstandingtherolethatAEDscanplayinensuringthehealthandsafetyofpupils,staffandotherusersoftheirpremises.AnAEDisamachineusedtogiveanelectricshockwhenapersonisincardiacarrest,i.e.whentheheartstopsbeatingnormally.Cardiacarrestcanaffectpeopleofanyageandwithoutwarning.Ifthishappens,swiftactionintheformofearlycardiopulmonaryresuscitation(CPR)andpromptdefibrillationcanhelpsaveaperson’slife.In2013,emergencymedicalservicesattemptedtoresuscitateapproximately28,000casesofout-of-hospitalcardiacarrestinEngland.1Overallsurvivalratesvaryacrossthecountry,butrangebetween2%and12%.2However,survivalratesashighas75%havebeenreportedwhereCPRanddefibrillationaredeliveredpromptly.3Thisiswhythestatutoryguidanceonsupportingpupilsatschoolwithmedicalconditions4advisesschoolstoconsiderpurchasinganAEDaspartoftheirfirst-aidequipment.Researchhasshownthatanindividual’schanceofsurvivalfollowingtheonsetofacardiacarrestdecreasesby7–10%foreveryminuteofdelayincommencingtreatment.2Lackofbloodcirculationforevenafewminutesmayleadtoirreversibleorgandamage–includingbraindamage.Earlyinterventionbybystanders,eventhosewithlittleornofirstaidtraining,canthereforebuytimeuntilprofessionalhelparrives,improvingthechanceofasuccessfuloutcome.ModernAEDsareinexpensive,simpletooperateandsafeforusers.TheAEDwillanalysetheindividual’sheartrhythmandapplyashocktorestartit,oradvisethatCPRshouldbecontinued.Voiceand/orvisualpromptswillguidetherescuerthroughtheentireprocessfromwhenthedeviceisfirstswitchedonoropened.Theseincludepositioningandattachingthepads,whentostartorrestartCPRandwhetherornotashockisadvised.1Source:ConsensusPaperonOut-of-HospitalCardiacArrestinEngland(BritishHeartFoundation,NHSEnglandandResuscitationCouncil(UK),2014):https://www.resus.org.uk/publications/consensus-paperon-out-of-hospital-cardiac-arrest-in-england/2Source:Deakin,Shewry,Gray,‘Publicaccessdefibrillationremainsoutofreachformostvictimsofoutof-hospitalsuddencardiacarrest...
