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.
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.