Defibrillator skills to be added to 'FAW' and 'EFAW' courses

Defibrillator skills to be added to 'FAW' and 'EFAW' courses
7 April 2016

Defibrillator skills to be added to 'FAW' and 'EFAW' courses

In October 2015, there were significant changes made to the Resuscitation Council UK Guidelines regarding cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). These revisions have led to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) amending the current Emergency First Aid and First Aid at Work syllabuses. If you're a first aider and you don't have defibrillator skills, this will definitely affect you.

Defibrillator Skills

Every company's First Aiders must be fully trained in the use of an automated external defibrillator (AED). This will come into effect on 31st December 2016. Guidelines were changed to state that 'the management of a casualty requiring CPR is to request an AED'.

This law is coming into fruition at the end of the year. It would be beneficial to ensure that your EFAW and FAW first aiders are competently trained. Defibrillators are now common place within many organisations and some public spaces, and if not surely they should be.

Statistics prove that the early use of an AED has a much more beneficial outcome to the casualty. Opposed to those that were delayed, waiting for an ambulance for instance. After a cardiac arrest, every minute without CPR and defibrillation reduces someone's chance of survival by 10%. Now just think, how quickly could an ambulance get to you?

Defibrillator Skills

Some shocking UK statistics

188,000 hospital episodes are attributed to heart attacks in the UK each year, that's one around every three minutes.

There are more than 30,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests in the UK each year.

Somebody in the UK is struck by a heart attack every 3 minutes

Survival chances raise from 6% to 74% if CPR  and an AED are used within 3-5 minutes of cardiac arrest, .

Without immediate treatment, 90-95% of sudden cardiac arrest victims will die.

(Ref: British Heart Foundation)

From the Steroplast Knowledge Base
See how we’re helping Manchester United improve stadium safety

Learn how Steroplast is supporting 24/7 public access defibrillators at Old Trafford, bridging the care gap and prioritising fan safety.

What does this mean for organisations

Good news for employers, these changes do not mean that you have to purchase a defibrillator for your workplace. This is still a requirement dependent upon a company's needs assessment. Don't worry, your First Aiders don't have to be sent away today to be retrained. Updation in the required skills will be covered when they apply for requalification.

All of the changes will apply directly to organisations delivering the EFAW and FAW training. As these will need to add AED to their workload as of the 31st December 2016. Due to these changes being of such high importance, these organisations should really make these additions straight away. If you're currently looking for a course, it's in your best interest to check if AED is included.

AED's at Steroplast Healthcare

We believe these changes are definitely a small step in the right direction. At Steroplast we are pleased to stock a wide range of defibrillators which can be ordered directly from us. Each AED has its own range of accessories. Alarmed cabinets are also available so that the AED can displayed without the risk of theft or vandalism.

For more information feel free to give us a call on 0161 902 3030. A member of our team will be happy to help and discuss your company's needs.

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