On OpenStreetMap, there’s an emergency=defibrillator object. It can be tagged with information like opening hours (e.g. if it’s inside a location that’s only open certain hours), a description of the location (“at the front desk”), etc.
For example, on the Android/iOS app OsmAnd, you can select ‘Defibrillator’ as a point of interest (POI) Additionally, choosing ‘Healthcare’ POI type will show not just hospitals, clinics, etc., but also AED locations.
Other emergency devices, like emergency phones, are also mappable.
Why YSK: quick access to defibrillators can save lives and significantly improve quality-of-life outcomes. The more complete this data is, the more useful somebody can actually expect it to be in an emergency. Even if the data isn’t queried during the emergency, seeing it on the map could help users know where they are ahead of time.
You should also know that using them is not scary. You can’t do it wrong if you follow the spoken instructions. It will not shock anyone if it’s not needed.
Imidiately starting CPR and using an AED improves the survivability of a stopped heart manyfold.
If you need one you can just grab one from the nearest place. Don’t bother asking. Don’t be scared of doing something wrong. It’s better than doing nothing.
Caveat that it won’t shock anyone they don’t need to as long as that person isn’t conscious or moving…
The AED doesn’t shock people who are in asystole (flatline), contrary to popular myth. The point of shocking isn’t to start the heart, it’s “have you tried shutting it off and turning it back on again?” It shocks 2 rhythms, ventricular tachycardia (a type of very fast heart rate) and ventricular fibrillation (where the bottom part of your heart quivers but doesn’t pump). It’s possible to be alive and conscious in V tach, you can be pulseless and “dead” with V tach and you won’t have a pulse with V fib. So if you apply it to someone conscious, there’s a chance they could be in V tach and it will recognize that and shock them, killing them. It can also recognize movement as a shockable rhythm and deliver a shock improperly.
None of this should scare anyone from using an AED! If you have someone who isn’t conscious, isn’t breathing, and doesn’t have a pulse or you don’t know how to check for one, you can use an AED! Just don’t put one on someone who is awake and having chest pain “just in case” and if you need to move someone that has an AED applied, don’t do it while the AED says it is analyzing (you will know, it verbally says so and tells you to stop touching the patient!)
Go learn CPR! It is not hard, and you can save a life. Remember, if someone needs CPR you can’t screw it up! They can’t get any more dead, but you can make them better!
I’m CPR trained with many recerts over the years. AEDs do everything for you, you just have to apply the pads in the correct spot (every AED has a visual diagram) and press the big button. They’re intentionally designed to be easy to use now.
Also, get CPR certified. Takes an hour or two at most and you could save a life.
The last AED I used in training even kept rythm and count of the CPR!
Taps you on the shoulder…! Hey hey buddy are you okay!!! No response… proceeds to CPR. No response…you! Get me the AED!!!..continues CPR…you! Call 911!!!.. continues CPR.
To anyone reading this, this is actually what you do in a situation where there are people around. Due to the bystander effect, you have to call out to specific people to do these things.
CPR only works if it’s consistent, and you can’t stop until EMTs arrive. After you command people to do these, you ask if anyone else is trained in CPR. Not knows. Trained. And then tell them to sit across from you so they can take over if you exhaust yourself. CPR is tough if you do it right, but you’re keeping someone from dying.
Buuuut, don’t be afraid to do it wrong if nobody is available. Shitty halfbaked CPR is still better than just standing there doing nothing. And the people at the emergency services will absolutely talk you through improvising it.
Like I was told in the military: having a broken ribcage and being alive is better than being dewd with an intact ribcage.
Completely agreed! I’ve used a few in practice sessions and they are quite easy. The one thing to be aware of is that you do need to get the sticky electrodes in the right place. There is a simple diagram showing where they go. But you will need to get under their shirt and bra to place them, so make sure you’re not pulling down a strangers clothes for the wrong reasons.
But also, please rip off my shirt if it might save my life. I’d rather be immodest than dead.
Depends where you live. Pretty sure here you need a code to open it which you can get while calling for an ambulance and they direct you to the nearest one.
Can’t really speak for most places, but here in the Netherlands, you can sign up for a service/app that alerts nearby CPR-certified people when there’s a call. It will tell you to either go to the location, or grab an AED first and then go. If you need a code/key/whatever, that’s also listed.
I remember thinking of such a system for voluntary first aiders. We don’t have it here. Also for more than just CPR. Sometimes an ambulance is called out because someone fell and it takes hours if there are higher priority things. Someone else who lives nearby could potentially help in that case if they knew about it.
I know my first aid certificates are all long expired now but I haven’t really had a need to update them and it costs money which I no longer have anyone else willing to pay for. Got my last one on scheme for unemployed people over a decade ago. 99% of the scheme was bullshit but first aid was genuinely useful to be training people on.
I had done first aid before so for me it was more of a renewal but for many they had no experience at all. Did get to play with the CPR dummies which I hadn’t on previous first aid courses.
It’s a mix here. Those in private businesses tend to be open and easy to grab. The ones in a box on a street corner are code locked.
I suspect it makes sense. The slight delay would be fairly minimal. You are likely on the phone to emergency services already.
It’s quite effective at stopping people messing with them however. Unfortunately, it only takes a few idiots to ruin things. Both thieves and bored teenagers could take an interest in them, and render them useless. A simple code lock makes it clear it’s not to be touched without need.
I’ve not looked closely enough to see if any have a “break glass” type access system as well.
Wow, that sucks. A few minutes can be the difference between life and death during these events. I would be so fucking mad (and litigious) if my wife died because someone couldn’t get the AED open since they didn’t have some magic code.
Here, they’re programmed not to shock if they don’t detect a shockable heart rhythm, so there’s pretty low risk as long as the spoken instructions are listened and adhered to. They were even easier to use than I thought they would be when I took my first aid training.
Why is someone looking for an AED and not calling for an ambulance? Delayed ambulance response is more likely to result in death.
The person getting the AED and the person on the phone with emergency services might not be the same.
If I have to choose between going for an AED that is close by and I know the location of and calling for an ambulance, I’m going for the AED. If I can call the ambulance on the way, great, if not, I’ll call it after the AED is applied. Even better would be to dial emergency services on speaker while I’m doing CPR and send someone else for the AED.
Every minute your brain goes without oxygen your chances of survival goes down by 10%. CPR is your best chance of survival, and AED is your next best chance. An ambulance can do a lot of things, but even with EMS the best things they can do to improve survival rates are early defibrillation and good CPR, and even with great response times they’re probably several minutes out.
The ambulance has drugs that you and the AED don’t. Not every cardiac arrest is even shockable in the first place either.
Although even with all that, they will probably still die. Its just that having that stuff gives a small chance at survival.
I’m well aware of that. I do this for a living. But the AED and CPR still give a much better chance of survival than all the drugs in the world. Statistics don’t lie and there’s no bringing back someone whose brain has been deprived of oxygen for too long. I mean, you might bring them back to life, but they’ll be a vegetable in a nursing home for the rest of their life.