should all flats for senior living have a defibrillator

[Wundrus]

thanks

[10gingercats]

Who pays for it? Flats are private, council,housing association and much in between. In principal the idea is a good one but may prove difficult to implement unless from Gov. level.

[meadfoot]

Guess as a block of owners or tenants you could look into buying and maintaining a defibrillator yourselves sited in a common area for use if required.

We discussed buying one for our small enclave of eight houses but given there are three doctors living there, one being a cardio thoracic surgeon at the time it didnt go any further. Its certainly worth considering, cant put a price on a life.

[Hidden]

Think these are as useful for younger people?

[devonian186]

Personally I would find that offputting as I would a stairlift.

[Qualipop in reply to devonian186]

Why a stair lift? I've had one for 20 years. When my spine problems started I was crawling upstairs on hands and knees. Now I rarely use i t. I need to keep my legs and hips flexible so the stairlift is there as a back up or if I need to carry a pile of laundry upstairs. There's no stigma attached to it. It took me a long time to accept a wheelchair until I realised I could walk further with it. I woudl push it on the way out to give me support and then sit in it to go back home. Sadly now it's a mobility scooter because my shoulders are too bad to wheel the wheelchair. There's no shame in using aids or having them available for when you need them. Now I need a way to get out of the bath since a bad fall but can't get any help with that.

[devonian186 in reply to Qualipop]

I am talking purely about in a mixed block of flats with a mixed age group many of whom may not need these aids.

[Sb1171]

I know they are not cheap, but we have a defibrillator in the boot of the car. Not necessarily just for our benefit. You never know when you might need one for a loved one, friend or a stranger. You can get them for under £1000, which is a lot of money, but a good value insurance premium in my mind.

[Yogi1950s]

Given that we find ourselves in the run up to a general election maybe one or other party will make it mandatory for all citizens over the age of 18 to carry one 24/7 365 days of the year and two on days when there is a y in the month! Another unfeasible and uncosted manifesto gimmick!

[Blearyeyed in reply to Yogi1950s]

I assume that was in answer to the idea of everyone having one in the boot of the car, because otherwise it was a bit of a flippant comment on a serious subject. Defibrillators save lives by being in public access places everyday , so it would probably be worth putting a reasonable Defibrillation Supply Plan in place in a manifesto, having them in the flats and care homes of vulnerable people , or in multi storey living spaces doesn't seem unfeasible or too costly. Definitely not a gimmick, just ask someone whose had their life saved by one.

[Yogi1950s in reply to Blearyeyed]

Yes I was taking the proverbial!!!Greater accessibility would be a good idea, but who is going to pick up the bill not only for the initial installation but then the ongoing maintenance and other associated costs. Also, who will protect the larger number of defibrillators from the unwanted attention of mindless morons who feel the need to vandalise them.........

The concept is good in theory but rapidly becomes a huge undertaking with equally huge financial implications. Just saying!

[Blearyeyed in reply to Yogi1950s]

The upkeep and initial cost is not large. To be frank , it's also worth it and from what I've seen it's the one thing in a Community that even the most mindless vandals seem to view with respect.

I've not seen it heard of any deliberate damage done to them.....let's face it most have older relatives near by whom they'd realise could need it one day.

It really isn't a massive undertaking unless some Government or Council body decides to make it appear so , in order to get out of funding a resource they don't think of as vital.

Our defibrillator in my little village is just outside the pub!

[Noodlesalad]

Yes.

[Blearyeyed]

I don't know what the rules are outside the UK , but in the UK it is not a legal requirement, not even in Care Homes , although heart charities are trying to encourage all assisted living flats and homes to install one.If course, medically it could make the difference between life and death so I don't understand the resistance .

There was a petition to get a parliamentary debate about 5 years ago , put up by an individual I assume , to make it a legal requirement for them to be installed , funded by the Health and Social Care department. Sadly it only got 46 signatures at the time , probably because nobody knew about it.

I think it would be a great idea for a charity like BHF to help the cause and possibly put in a debate question request on the parliamentary website then tell us all through their various media platforms so that we can get all of our friends and family to sign it, and hopefully get these things funded and placed in homes and flats as soon as we can.

[Milkfairy Heart Star in reply to Blearyeyed]

People also need to be taught how to perform CPR and be given the knowledge about where and how to use an automated defibrillator.

When my brother in law had his out of hospital cardiac arrest, he was successfully resuscitated by a passing off duty life guard.

There was a defibrillator in the nearby cafe but the staff refused to allow a member of the public to use it🤦‍♀️

Automated defibrillators are easy to use however for someone in an emergency situation they maybe hesitant to use one in fear of getting something wrong.

There is also a problem of emergency services not knowing where a defibrillator is located.

The BHF has created a data base

The Circuit, where organisations can register their defibrillator

thecircuit.uk/

The BHF also has online training courses on CPR.

bhf.org.uk/how-you-can-help...

[Blearyeyed in reply to Milkfairy]

Yes there definitely needs to be more guidance for the people in charge of supervising these things , and there should be more signage around town to help people locate them.I wonder is there an app that will tell you where the closest defibrillator is? If not that would be really useful.

Training sessions for CPR would be a sensible lesson to bring in for upper years in Secondary School too.

[Milkfairy Heart Star in reply to Blearyeyed]

The BHF link I included in my reply gives the location of defibrillators. I believe CPR is now taught in secondary school's in England

resus.org.uk/public-resourc....

Like any skill it needs refreshing.

All healthcare professionals have to attend annual training sessions in resuscitation and dealing with the emergencies.

[Lezzers in reply to Blearyeyed]

All public access defibrillators are registered with the emergency services, when you phone 999 they will direct you to the nearest defibrillator & provide you with a code to open the cabinet, if it's in a cabinet. But all that of course takes precious time when time is of an essence & delay can mean the difference in life or death. CPR training is absolutely important, which I believe they're now doing in schools. I also think people should be trained to recognise someone going into cardiac arrest, you would be very surprised at how many people (including myself!) thought that it's just a case of clutching at your heart & keeling over, as portrayed in TV & films!

[Lezzers in reply to Blearyeyed]

Sorry, I meant to also add that there's a rare cardiac arrest that does not respond to defibrillation, CPR is paramount in that situation. I'm not really up on it as it's not something I personally have experienced!

[cappachina]

I live in sheltered accommodation belonging to the council. We fundraised ourselves to buy a defib as there is mot a public one anywhere near us and then thought we should have it outside so leaflet dropped the local neighbourhood who donated towards the cost of external box

[Blearyeyed in reply to cappachina]

Excellent idea and very considerate to make it available for the community too.

[Palpman]

At my age I'd prefer not to have one nearby me.I don't want to die more than once.

[Blearyeyed in reply to Palpman]

Wouldn't that mean it would be better to have one nearby rather than worse?

[Lezzers in reply to Palpman]

I probably wouldn't look at it as dying more than once. My husband had a cardiac arrest after a massive heart attack at the age of 42. That was back in 1997 so he's had nearly 30 additional years of 'living'. That time has been spent with loved ones, holidays abroad & at home, meals out, concerts, etc. With a few adjustments he's had a very good life that he appreciates all the more for having nearly lost it. Though I do appreciate that sometimes age & health can be a deciding factor.

[Dollcollector]

The defibrillator in my village is at the bottom of the hill outside the village hall half a mile away. Surely the person who is with you when you have a cardiac arrest should stay with you , doing c.p.r. As every second counts, how can he get the defibrillator?

[Lezzers in reply to Dollcollector]

I would think in that case you would continue to do CPR until the paramedics arrive and take over? In a real emergency situation they really are quick to get to the patient.

[Dollcollector in reply to Lezzers]

That depends on how busy they are.

[Lezzers in reply to Dollcollector]

It does, but that sort of emergency takes priority above all else. Unfortunately I had to dial 999 a few times for my husband last year and despite being told there could be delays the paramedics were here within 10 mins each time & I live in a coastal village which is difficult to access at times due to holiday traffic. The only delay was due to the mobile critical care, the paramedics wanted critical care in attendance but there's only one round here & he couldn't get here in good time so the paramedics took the decision to take my husband straight to the hospital.

[Alicant]

I think they should be far more widespread and be centrally funded ..bring cost down..at moment appear to be in random locations and if I went into street now wouldn’t have a clue where the nearest was…that applies for training to use..