It was a life-saving innovation when bulky, complex hospital defibrillators were transformed into portable automated external defibrillators (AEDs), allowing people with no medical or First Aid training to save lives. So, where is this technology heading and what can we expect from innovations in the future?
Smaller, More Compact Design and Engineering
We’re living in an age where cutting-edge technology fits easily into the back pocket of your jeans, where tech giants are fitting more and more into smaller and sleeker designs. While current AEDs are not very heavy or bulky, we can see them becoming much smaller units in the future. This will help in several ways, making them more portable (you could slip one into your backpack on a hike, keep one in the reception of your small business or store one in your car First Aid kit, for example), easier to store and easier to place throughout a building.
Easier to Use
Current AEDs are designed to be used by anyone, even children, to safely restart a heartbeat, but the user interface and instructions haven’t changed much over the years. We live in a time where technology has changed every facet of our lives, creating home assistants, smart appliances, apps and smartphones that are connected and offer innovative user-friendly interfaces and features. It would be exciting to see some of that spill into the world of AEDs, where people can be empowered more effectively to save lives. Imagine an AED that you could ask questions of and get accurate answers as you treat a person, that connects to emergency services and GPS automatically, and actively supports your lifesaving efforts. This would make bystanders more confident to act, especially in circumstances involving strangers, small children or unusual environments.
Improved Patient Care
For doctors to treat patients as effectively as possible, especially in a time-sensitive situation like SCA, they need patient data. Some new AED technology records patient data from the moment treatment starts – when the AED is attached to the patient – and makes it transmittable to emergency services and hospitals, ensuring the doctors waiting for the patient’s arrival have the most current and most accurate medical data on which to act. This allows doctors, surgical teams and medical teams to provide more accurate, more insightful patient care, something that can directly impact on patient outcomes, survival rates and long-term care requirements.
One of the most significant challenges when it comes to public access and private AEDs is maintenance. Without regular maintenance, which includes running testing procedures, updating software and replacing key components like electrode pads and batteries (which have a finite lifespan) an AED is unreliable at best during a cardiac emergency. It’s up to staff and AED owners to keep their unit in good working order.
One of the new technologies on the horizon that may challenge this issue is a single-use, multi-shock AED. You won’t have to worry about time-consuming maintenance because you only use the unit once, then you’ll send it to be recycled. This option was highly cost-prohibitive in the past, but med tech innovators are seeing promising results for affordable single-use AEDs that run self-checks and are simple to maintain. Every advancement that makes it easier to have an on-site AED makes it just a little bit easier to save lives.
Advances in AED Technology Mean More Lives are Saved
As AED suppliers, we’re passionate about saving lives as well as preventing unnecessary deaths and brain/organ damage. We know that the simpler, more portable and more effective an AED is, the more likely it is to be used – and the more likely you are to feel confident enough to act in an emergency. Contact us today if you would like to know more about the best AEDs on the market.