AEDs On Your Apparatus?

[Faded Soul 6]

Okay... So here's an important question, because in my experience, there are some FD's that may beat an ambulance to the scene where there is a dual response or medical aid situation. How many of your trucks and apparatuses have an AED (Automated External Defibrillator)? Are ALL members in your FD First Aid/CPR/AED certified? Are they Certified First Responders? What medical training is mandated by your department of your members? Just wondering.

Example... Your FD is called to an alarm, and further investigation shows it is a structure fire. As your members get things ready to go in and do so they find an 80-something year old man that they bring out. The 80-something year old man is in full cardiac arrest. Worst case scenario- EMS is backed up on other things, or they are working on paging out and getting a crew together. So... that leaves the FFs to the task of doing CPR and possibly using the AED...

Just hoping to hear some feed back. Found it disturbing to have come across a few FDs with NO AED.

[FD828 77]

Okay... So here's an important question, because in my experience, there are some FD's that may beat an ambulance to the scene where there is a dual response or medical aid situation. How many of your trucks and apparatuses have an AED (Automated External Defibrillator)? Are ALL members in your FD First Aid/CPR/AED certified? Are they Certified First Responders? What medical training is mandated by your department of your members? Just wondering.

Example... Your FD is called to an alarm, and further investigation shows it is a structure fire. As your members get things ready to go in and do so they find an 80-something year old man that they bring out. The 80-something year old man is in full cardiac arrest. Worst case scenario- EMS is backed up on other things, or they are working on paging out and getting a crew together. So... that leaves the FFs to the task of doing CPR and possibly using the AED...

Just hoping to hear some feed back. Found it disturbing to have come across a few FDs with NO AED.

All equipment in Stamford(SFRD) carry a full compliment of EMS equipment including an AED. All members are trained to a minimum of CFR but the majority are at the EMT level.

[ny10570 745]

For those companies/depts without defibs... How about sudden cardiac arrest is still killing more of us than fires. That's fine if EMS isn't your job, but CPR and early defibrillation have been proven to be far and away the most effective ways to improve survival. If your rig doesnt have a defib and your members are not trained in CPR, Just do it for yourselves. They're so cheap these days and CPR is so simple that there is no excuse not to.

Edited January 18, 2011 by ny10570

[Faded Soul 6]

And god forbid, it's one of the guys that drops from a sudden cardiac arrest... that you knew, worked with, trained with and grew up with. I can't imagine a stronger reason to have than to prevent the death of one of your own. That is a very disturbing thought...

[M' Ave 1,466]

An AED costs, well, nothing. They are cheaper than some iPhone's. Every single person with a pulse should be familiar with CPR and the use of an AED. Every engine co. in NYC has one. Perhaps every patrol car should have one as well. They should be in every single public gathering place and someone who knows how to use one should be within useful distance of it at all times.

It's so easy a child could use one. They're so cheap there's no budget excuse not to have one. They can and do mean the difference between life and death. If more people are trained in CPR and more AED's are available, perhaps they're mean life more often.

Edited January 18, 2011 by M' Ave

[EJS1810 7]

Mahopac VFD has an AED in each Chief's car and on all 1st Due apparatus with the exception of the Rescue Truck. We got 5 AED's in 2004 on an AFG Grant. The Board approved buying 3 more AED's last year to be 100% AED equipped including the Fire Police Van amd the Bikepath Gator.

[Atv300 69]

Dover has an AED on everything and a full EMS jump bag on the brush truck and the engine that has extrication tools on it. I agree with this topic 100% departments should have an AED on every rig for the simple fact you never know weather your out on a run and one of our own goes down. You could be doing a local bit for the community or schools and any one could go down. I also agree at the very least every firefighter should have CPR as a required class.

[se36 2]

We carry a total of 6 AED's every apparatus carries one, along with a trauma bag and O2 bag. Mini Pumper, Engine, Rescue, and Tower carry stokes and backboards. Tanker carries backboards . Brush truck ( no backboards)

[67R93 5]

Here in Union Vale, we have a full set of EMS equiptment including and AED on our rescue truck at sta 1, and our rescue/pumper at sta 2. Also car 1, and every EMS officer has an AED since atlest one of us always beats the ambulance to the scene.

[50-65 205]

Unfortunatly, we only have one AED, left over from the days when we used to run EMS calls. It is on our rescue.

Some in our current administration are anti-EMS and opposed requests to get even one more to put on our first due engine as well as getting most, if not all active members CPR/AED trained.

My belief is that it will be needed for one of our own rather than someone else and more than likely at a scene other than an MVA. Our rescue is first due at MVA's but fourth due at structure fires/AFA's.

[JetPhoto 626]

Another question how many keep the AED in a warm area such as the cab or do you keep it in the body of the apperatus so when your truck is outside for calls in the winter it's just as cold as everything else?

[PFDRes47cue 653]

Pleasantville FD has an AED on all apparatus. There are also EMS jump bags and 02 bags.

There really is no excuse for not having EMS equipment on rigs. An AED is a cheap lifesaving tool that has been proven to be very effective. If a department can not afford AED's they should appl;y for a grant or look for companies to donate them. It will be a lot easier to ask the public for donations for an AED and explain the benefits of having one then having to explain to the public why a member collapsed at a scene and could not receive the proper care.

[aacofd40 6]

We have AED's on all of our apparatus.

All of the career staff are EMT's. All the volunteers are EMT's, with the exception of our newest volunteers. If the volunteer has chosen to get FF1 first, than they have 1 year from that completion to finish EMT.

On a side note, all the cops in our county also carry AED's. They are dispatched with us for many cardiac calls.

Be safe,

JR

[FiftyOnePride 100]

Our Chief, Ambulance Captain, Rescue, First Due Engine, Tanker, and obviously Ambulances have them. The last two trucks we purchased actually came equipped with them already mounted in pelican cases. We added the AED to our rescue to compliment the rescue equipment we keep in it.

There are very few calls where none of those units are on the scene, so we are pretty well covered there. Slowly I hope to equip the other two engines and our brush truck with them.

[PEMO3 523]

An AED costs, well, nothing. They are cheaper than some iPhone's.

I would be surprised if they don't come out with an app for that too!

[DaRock98 76]

Those of you who have them on your apparatus (specifically volunteer depts) do you make it mandatory for ALL members to be CPR and AED certified?

Edited January 19, 2011 by DaRock98

[DaRock98 76]

Those of you who have them on your apparatus (specifically volunteer depts) do you make it mandatory for ALL members to be CPR and AED certified? As well as depts. that carry O2 on the rigs are all members required to be trained to at least the CFR level?

Sorry for the double post mods please delete the first post!

Edited January 19, 2011 by DaRock98

[se36 2]

Those of you who have them on your apparatus (specifically volunteer depts) do you make it mandatory for ALL members to be CPR and AED certified?

Yes all must be CPR / AED, We also have 10 EMT's and several CFR's

[Remember585 815]

We currently have AEDs in all three Chief's vehicles, the three Engines and Truck. Money is allocated to put them on the Tanker & Rescue with current budget money, and we're hoping to have them put in all three of our firehouses.

We also purchased O2 / first aid bags, and they will soon go into service, which would put them in all three Chief's cars, three Engines, Truck, Rescue and Fire Boat.

CPR is required for all Active Members.

The #1 reason we purchased this equipment was for ourselves. It's funny to see how many people don't get it and throw a hissy fit when you put any kind of EMS gear on a fire engine in a non-EMS department.

[JohnnyOV 2]

Our engines and rescue carry them, O2 (refilled by the VAC) and BLS gear that used to be refilled by the VAC. They are mostly for our members if they become stricken on the fire ground, although it gets used time to time on patients. Even though our department runs zero ems calls, a good number of our firefighters are EMTs and there are a couple paramedics in our ranks as well due to the VAC being unreliable with getting out in a timely fashion.

Even at basic car accidents, having members trained in the use of backboards, c-spine, patient management, triage ect. is a whole sh*t load of help. 9 times out of 10, when we actually do get dispatched to an MVA, the FD arrives almost simultaneously with the medics and assists with providing patient care and packaging the patient well before the jolly bus arrives, and then its just a load and go situation.

[conman 40]

Here in Hurley, we carry them on both ambulances, our first due engine our rescue pumper and our brush truck. We carry BLS bags on our ambulances, our first due, our rescue pumper and our utility. When we get brush fires we put an AED and a BLS bag on our six wheeler. Everyone is CPR/AED certified. Personally I would like to see those in my department that aren't EMT's or Medics to be CFR's

[Faded Soul 6]

I also came across a FD website in which the web master or whomever stated that they are fortunate to have alot of EMTs in their dept. I'd like to know what good is an EMT/CFR on scene responding with FD, without an AED, or any of the EMS equipment that many of you have been kind enough to post that you have. Also, how liable would your dept. be if someone died, that you could have saved IF you had the appropriate equipment?

[Bnechis 3,961]

Also, how liable would your dept. be if someone died, that you could have saved IF you had the appropriate equipment?

Since NFPA 1901 added an AED to the required equipment on all new rigs we have purchased a new engine and a new rescue from 2 different manufacturers. Both required signing a waiver that we would provide the AED and it did not need to be included in the basic equipment they provided. In other words they are making sure they can not be dragged into any lawsuit for not having an AED on the rig.