Defibrillator on board

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girlofwight

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Anyone have a defib on board?

I’ve done my advanced first aid and defib training this week, three days, and given the survival stats - CPR only less than 10% v CPR and defib 70% - I’m thinking a defib on board may be a good idea.

Apparently the independent life boats have them afloat, RNLI don’t.

I’d really like to know if anyone has one on board and how they have got on in terms of storage and environment - I understand the land based outside boxes are climate controlled.

Equally has anyone thought about it and decided not to, and if so why?

It’s probably a grand or so, but what price life?
 
girlofwight said:
Anyone have a defib on board?

I’ve done my advanced first aid and defib training this week, three days, and given the survival stats - CPR only less than 10% v CPR and defib 70% - I’m thinking a defib on board may be a good idea.

Apparently the independent life boats have them afloat, RNLI don’t.

I’d really like to know if anyone has one on board and how they have got on in terms of storage and environment - I understand the land based outside boxes are climate controlled.

Equally has anyone thought about it and decided not to, and if so why?

It’s probably a grand or so, but what price life?
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Interesting scenario if you are single handed. ;-)
 
Kerenza said:
The usual argument against is the likely hood of attempting to use on a wet body.
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I’d probably want to double-check the instructions before trying it, but I’m reasonably sure they said on the last first aid course I did that AEDs can be used on someone who’s wet (but not actually in the water). The only real problem in that situation is getting the pads to stick, so you should try to at least roughly dry off the areas where they go.

Pete
 
Its relatively easy to dry the casualty's chest.
The survival rates fall drastically with every minutes delay in applying an AED, see the table in
http://www.early-defib.org/03_01_01.html
after ten minutes delay less than 5% survive anyway. As most lifeboats take 5-10 minutes to launch, then factor in travel time to the casualty, carrying an AED on a lifeboat is not that effective.
 
Our club have one in the bar though I don't think it has ever been used in 10 years. I imagine donated by some older person having heart attacks in mind rather than drowning. It seems to have lithium batteries with a life of 5 years I think. Anyway with our first aid renewals we always drag it out to explain it's use although most FA instructors bring a instruction type machine. Yes practicalities are such that recovering a drowning person from the water is first priority and may take some time and there would only be a small window of time between recovery still breathing and recovery beyond hope. So first rule is to not fall in the water. However could be very useful in case of older folk with chance of heart attack. Perhaps more useful as showing concern re first aid than actual help. Our local water police carry defib but we have not considered one for our club support boat. Pitty they are not cheaper. olewill
 
The boat I crossed the Atlantic in last year had a defibrillator on board. The owner and skipper was an A&E surgeon, so I was fairly confident he knew how to use it to good effect. The boat was designed and built for high latitude sailing, so it made sense to have one on board.
Another crew member was a consultant cardiologist. I had never before felt so safe on a boat. A lot of interesting stories too about doctors and hospitals ?
 
Never thought of one on a private boat. Certainly a good idea if you spend time on board, maybe in remote areas or if doing a big sailing passage? It's like a set of jump leads, buy them to help other people, not yourself normally :) A lot of the big commercial boats are carrying the auto versions that prompt the user what to do.
 
I would not carry one as the probability of requiring it is very low. I have too many items on my boat which also have a low probability of ever being used and I just don't need another 'just in case' device.
 
BlowingOldBoots said:
I would not carry one as the probability of requiring it is very low. I have too many items on my boat which also have a low probability of ever being used and I just don't need another 'just in case' device.
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Like the rest if them though, you would kick yourself if you needed it and didn't have it. Considering the average age of the average boater, I suspect it is more likely to be used than flares or a life raft.
 
I think that the chances of my wife or I successfully using a defibrillator on the other while at sea and also succeeding in continuing resuscitation and getting help are pretty slim, though I can imagine it working on a fully-crewed boat. There are some times when I think that you have to accept a risk and persevere regardless. There is a risk that I will have a heart attack when I set off in my boat, but there is much the same risk when I go for a walk, and I don't usually concern myself about it. I wouldn't want to deter anyone from taking equipment, but I think that measures taken to avoid injury are more important.
 
CLB said:
Like the rest if them though, you would kick yourself if you needed it and didn't have it. Considering the average age of the average boater, I suspect it is more likely to be used than flares or a life raft.
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I would not 'kick myself' if I needed it and did not have one on board. Life is full of potential killers and to be frank, I have been thinking a lot about stuff like this. There is a certain amount of momentum that builds up in society around safety and relying on something or someone else. The reason I have been thinking about it is that a lot of these threats to our mortality are self induced. For example, in many cases, life style changes will eliminate the risk of developing heart disease and diabetes. Additionally, lifestyle changes are now known to actually reverse a lot of damage.

Where I live has the highest risk probability of CVD, yet just about all my friends and sailing companions (we are all between 45 and 60) have been making lifestyle adjustments because of increased health risks. This probably has the greatest probability of preventing death from VCD than me carrying a defibrillator.

https://www.bhf.org.uk/-/media/files/.../heart.../bhf-cvd-statistics---uk-factsheet.pdf
 
BlowingOldBoots said:
I would not 'kick myself' if I needed it and did not have one on board. Life is full of potential killers and to be frank, I have been thinking a lot about stuff like this. There is a certain amount of momentum that builds up in society around safety and relying on something or someone else. The reason I have been thinking about it is that a lot of these threats to our mortality are self induced. For example, in many cases, life style changes will eliminate the risk of developing heart disease and diabetes. Additionally, lifestyle changes are now known to actually reverse a lot of damage.

Where I live has the highest risk probability of CVD, yet just about all my friends and sailing companions (we are all between 45 and 60) have been making lifestyle adjustments because of increased health risks. This probably has the greatest probability of preventing death from VCD than me carrying a defibrillator.

https://www.bhf.org.uk/-/media/files/.../heart.../bhf-cvd-statistics---uk-factsheet.pdf
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So you are travelling with your wife/husband/partner and they unfortunately have a heart attack and as a result, pass away. You would not kick yourself that you chose not to have one onboard? You would not say 'what if'?

I won't be having one onboard either, but I know full well if I find myself in that situation I will wish that I had and, if I lose a loved one, will regret not.
 
CLB said:
So you are travelling with your wife/husband/partner and they unfortunately have a heart attack and as a result, pass away. You would not kick yourself that you chose not to have one onboard? You would not say 'what if'?

I won't be having one onboard either, but I know full well if I find myself in that situation I will wish that I had and, if I lose a loved one, will regret not.
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Think what you want but your assumption is pathetic.
 
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