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Hints and Tips

AED and Temperature

Maintenance

Damp

Masks and Gloves

Visibility

Torches

Incidents list

Vehicles

Maps

Pagers

Insurance

Mobile phones

Defib and  wet or metal surfaces

AED and Temperature

 

The AED must not get too cold, ours are kept in a central location, in a box . We have noticed that the if  the weather has been freezing the AED gets too cold and may not fire. To stop this we have decided to take it home during extremes of temperatures. Though, whoever does this must be able to attend should there be a call-out. (Check the operating instructions, however, I am fairly certain it has to be kept above 0ºC)

 

If the battery is kept out, (as ours used to be in order to make it last longer), then it is a good idea to run a self-test regularly. Check the manual that came with it, however common sense should prevail when it comes to temperature extremes - its an electronic piece of kit that must work when necessary, so pamper it. 

 

Maintenance

You need a maintenance schedule! Update - NWAS now want you to have one too.

e-mail me if you want help, but the manual should have a suggested schedule. Nicky, First Responder

 

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Damp

Silica gel crystals put into a bank bag will keep dampness at bay. Ours came from Boots the chemist and cost about £7.50 for a small container, the contents of which then had to be sewn into a cloth bag. Though I have seen something at Lakeland Plastics which would probably do a better job.

 (Note: The bag of crystals has to be regularly dried out in the oven).

 

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Masks & Gloves

Each member should be given a face mask and gloves. Although, the likelihood of catching anything from mouth to mouth is extremely low, it is not very pleasant without a mask.

 Gloves are a simple and required precaution,  -Keep them in jacket pockets along with the mask. Put the gloves on when attending incidents- (they  help me psychologically in the presence of vomit- weak stomach etc. etc.) 

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Visibility

After our first winter evening call-out we realised that high visibility jackets are an absolute must. (In addition, the jacket hides the fact that you may have had to get dressed in a hurry, I can't be the only one who has trouble getting the whole attire on and in the correct order when called out late at night or in the early hours!).

 Our supplier is: Deltawaite, Clay Flatts, Workington, Cumbria - they have supplied us with Jackets and First Responder printed on the back, for a very reasonable price. (£30 ish).

We also have "Univisors", with First Responder written on them. They go on the passenger sun visor - and are reflective. They are useful as we can then identify each other.

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Torches

Torches are very useful, for finding house numbers, reading the pager, maps etc. and finding your way safely to the door. Russ (Treasurer), has fallen head over apex when looking for a house at night.

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Incidents list

The format of the list is up to you, however, I suggest that  the the ambulance service incident number is also put on the list. For reasons of confidentiality I have omitted the C.A.S. Inc. no. from our list. The time, date, location and response time are usual. We have trouble remembering the response time, which is important for the ambulance service, but not for us! (However without the ambulance service we wouldn't exist so we are working on it).

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Vehicles

Firstly remember that you must abide by the Road Traffic Acts - no speeding or driving like a maniac. You have a reputation and code of conduct that should smack of professionalism! Lecture over, now some hints for reducing time wasted.

  1. Point the vehicle in the direction you will need to travel, (usually nose outwards).

  2. In winter put a cover over the windscreen and have de-icer ready by the door -not in the vehicle, it may be too frozen to open the doors.

  3. We spray WD40 into the door locks to stop them freezing, though I take no responsibility if this damages any paint work. (I spray my husband's BMW locks as they are terrible for freezing up, the whole door seems to freeze, and so far it hasn't done any damage).

  4. Keep the car with petrol in the tank.

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Maps

Members have drawn maps of some of the villages that we cover  and the Town Council gave us a map of the local Town. These have saved us a lot of time

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Mobile phones

Never  use the mobile phone whilst driving, that said and only using the phone whilst stationary, having ambulance control on short dial is a good idea, they can  give you directions and give vital back up if necessary. Also, they do like to know if you have attended and the response time. 

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Pagers

Sods law - if the battery is going to fail it is going to happen during the night and this often sets it off. This causes an unnecessary adrenalin rush and loss of shut-eye. Replace the battery every couple of months, every month if you have been busy, or use cheaper batteries. I have been told by a reliable fireman that the temperature drop during the small hours is the reason for battery failure during  the night.

 

Also consider that the pager receives a signal in a similar way to a mobile phone. Therefore there may be areas of the house etc. where there will be no  signal to the pager. All I can suggest to those who suspect that there may be a problem is to go over their house with a vodafone mobile and check where the mobile actually receives a signal. 

 

Another tip is to set the time, this records when the alert was initiated. This is to prevent you coming in the door seeing the pager going off and rushing to the patient, only to find that you are three hours too late! (No names,  but it it has happened, believe me). 

 

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Insurance

Check and mention to your insurance company that you carry out voluntary work. Generally there is not a problem if you do not have flashing lights on your car, but you must check. 

 

In addition to car insurance, check with the ambulance service as to whether or not you are covered by their indemnity insurance. Cumbria Ambulance Service have given us a copy of the Vicarious Liability Clause -(indemnity) that covers First Responders. It is my understanding that this does not cover us for  accidents etc. that we may suffer attending a call. I will put a link on the site soon so that you can read it for yourself.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Taken from the Technical Reference Manual

Defibrillation on Wet or Metal Surfaces

Defibrillating in the Presence of Oxygen

Defibrillation on Wet or Metal Surfaces

It is safe to defibrillate a patient on either a wet or metal surface as long as the appropriate safety precautions are taken. Specifically, care should be taken that no one is touching the patient when the shock button is pressed.

 

If the user does not touch the patient during the discharge, there is no danger of the user receiving a shock. Conversely, if the user is touching the patient when the defibrillator is discharged, he or she will probably receive a noticeable shock.

HEARTSTREAM AEDs were designed to be easy to use and have clear voice prompts that reinforce the proper use of the product. When the HEARTSTREAM AED is analyzing the ECG, it will say, "Do not touch the patient." When it decides to shock and begins to charge, it will tell the user to "Stay clear of patient." It will also inform the user "It is safe to touch the patient" when that is the case following a shock or analysis period. All of these messages are intended to make the unit safe and easy to use. 

 

Letter from Phillips   (to save to your computer right click to "save target as", or click on it to read and press browser back button to return here).

 

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Defibrillating in the Presence of Oxygen

The Instructions for Use manual for the HEARTSTREAM AEDs contains a warning,

"Danger: There is a possibility of explosion if the HEARTSTREAM FORERUNNER (FR2) is used in the presence of flammable anesthetics or concentrated oxygen." This refers to situations where a fire hazard is present. In these rare situations, a patient may be in an environment where a spark could ignite any combustibles present, such as clothes or bedding.

Defibrillators deliver an electrical current, so there are rare instances in which a spark may be generated between the defibrillator and the patient during a discharge. This

may occur from problems such as a faulty connection or improperly applied pads. If a spark is generated in the presence of flammable gases, it could result in a fire.

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