By Roger Munn 19/04/2016

Under: Team Welfare / Incident Response

How to Increase Safety with a Workplace Defibrillator

"A cardiac arrest," according to St John Ambulance, "can happen to anyone, anywhere, at any time. A person's chance of survival falls by about 10% for each minute that passes without defibrillation."

In spite of this, many workplaces and public buildings don't have a defibrillator on hand, nor anyone trained to use it. You can buy a defibrillator that's easy to use from Enfield Safety, and now the world-famous St John Ambulance charity is providing a course to train people in their use.

St John Ambulance Course

The St John Ambulance course is designed both to train personnel in the use of AEDs (automated external defibrillators) and in administering CPR, giving them the confidence that comes from knowing how to react in an emergency. Besides these specific skills, they'll be taught about chest pains and how to identify someone who may be at risk, as well as to understand what their role is as a first aider.

The course is offered at any of the 240 St John's Ambulance venues nationwide, and is open to anyone, regardless of any previous training. Alternatively, they offer bespoke onsite training, adapted to the specific needs of the organisation.

Defibrillators

We've all seen defibrillators used in films or on TV, and they can seem far too specialist for ordinary people to use. While training is needed, such as the St John Ambulance course, a good AED will be fairly intuitive. The Heartsine Samaritan 350P and 500P, for example, both sold by Enfield Safety along with a wall cabinet to store them, offer simple controls and both visual and spoken instructions to guide you through the process.

Besides use of the defibrillator itself, the AEDs also offer advice on giving CPR, while the more sophisticated model, the 500P, has a built-in Impedance Cardiogram that allows it to give feedback on how effective the treatment is.

The Importance of Instant Action

As St John Ambulance point out, time is of the essence if someone suffers a cardiac arrest. Any hesitation, whether it comes from a lack of equipment or a lack of confidence, could cost the patient their life. Although having a defibrillator isn't yet a legal requirement, the tide is very much turning towards regarding them as essential safety equipment.

Having an AED like the Heartsine Samaritan 350P and 500P in your workplace or organisation's headquarters provides the tools to save lives, while the St John Ambulance course ensures that they're not left idle because no-one has the confidence to use them. 

Contact Enfield Safety if you need more information about defibrillators.