Cold temperature is dangerous for both a person and a defibrillator. The decreased level of heat can increase the risk of hypothermia, which can result in sudden cardiac arrest, and freezing temperatures can damage the defibrillator (AED), and hinder its effectiveness.
Regardless of whether you choose to keep an AED for personal or commercial usage, you should understand how the cold can affect it and what to do if it does.
The Challenges of Cold
The cold temperatures present several challenges for an AED, and learning how to safeguard against them is vital for success.
First of all, colder temperatures can drain the batteries faster than warm climates. Second of all, the water-based gel which is prevalent in many AED pads can freeze. Generally speaking, an AED which is too cold may not work in an emergency situation, which could mean the difference between life or death. A lot of people leave these devices in cars or outbuildings where they don’t get the correct protection.
The Correct AED Temperature
The manufacturer of the specific AED you have will list an operating temperature for the device - this can range anywhere from 0°c to 50°c. They should not exceed or fall below these limits for their own efficiency. Therefore, as the owner, it falls to you to make sure that the device is stored in a suitable location.
Before we get into storage methods, it’s probably helpful to know that the majority of defibrillators have built-in software which will perform checks on all the components. If something isn’t right, generally speaking, you’ll know because the system will beep at you.
How to Store an AED
There’s many different ways you can store a defibrillator when not in use, and they all have unique advantages. We recommend that you look into a heated cabinet for both safety and security.
The heated cabinet is a powerful tool for protecting your AED from harm. Naturally, everyone wants to safeguard their device, and the cabinet offers many ways to do this.
For example, you can use it to heat the device when it’s not in use during the winter months. This can be exceptionally helpful when it comes to keeping it safe and making sure that you get continued use from it.
Obviously, there is an element of security as well, because you can lock the cabinet and store the device safely. A defibrillator can be a very valuable item, so the potential for people to try and steal one that is not properly guarded is quite high.
Protecting your defibrillator from harm can be very important, because winter can be particularly challenging. You need to make sure that you have taken adequate precautions to keep it safe during the colder months, because this will have a massive bearing on your overall experiences.
It’s important to remember that a defibrillator that does not work due to cold exposure can be incredibly unreliable during an emergency situation.It could mean the difference between life or death for somebody, so you need to make sure that you do things right and invest in proper protection.
Trimbio do stock a range of cabinets, as noted, we highly recommend the heated and locked model to keep your AED safe and intact over winter.