AED on Rehab units in LTC

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I would be interested in knowing if any facilities have AED's on their crash carts for rehab patients. Since most of these folks are a younger population than typically would be in a LTC setting I think it is an important piece of equipment to have on hand. I need some VALID data to convince my administrator.

Thanks for the help!

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Specializes in Emergency/Trauma/Education.

Our Inpatient Rehab Unit is in a building adjacent to & conntected to our hospital. The IRU emergency cart has a LifePak 12 monitor/defibrillator with AED capability. The AED mode is initiated by the Rehab staff that first responds to the patient, and when the Code Blue "team" arrives it can be used as a conventional defibrillator.

All our Rehab nurses complete the AHA Healthcare Provider BLS course that trains participants on the use of AEDs. And the Manager arranges for (at least)quarterly "Mock Codes" to put the staff through the paces of responding to an emergency situation.

I believe that any LTC population, regardless of age, can benefit from having AEDs on site. I'm sure that not all "old" people in LTC are DNRs! :)

As far as valid data, here's the citation of a recent article discussing statistics related to cardiac arrest and the use of AEDs:

Nelson, R. (January, 2005). The public defibrillator...American Journal of Nursing, v105, n1, pp 25-26.

(Send me a PM if you can't find the article!)

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Our Inpatient Rehab Unit is in a building adjacent to & conntected to our hospital. The IRU emergency cart has a LifePak 12 monitor/defibrillator with AED capability. The AED mode is initiated by the Rehab staff that first responds to the patient, and when the Code Blue "team" arrives it can be used as a conventional defibrillator.

All our Rehab nurses complete the AHA Healthcare Provider BLS course that trains participants on the use of AEDs. And the Manager arranges for (at least)quarterly "Mock Codes" to put the staff through the paces of responding to an emergency situation.

I believe that any LTC population, regardless of age, can benefit from having AEDs on site. I'm sure that not all "old" people in LTC are DNRs! :)

As far as valid data, here's the citation of a recent article discussing statistics related to cardiac arrest and the use of AEDs:

Nelson, R. (January, 2005). The public defibrillator...American Journal of Nursing, v105, n1, pp 25-26.

(Send me a PM if you can't find the article!)

Thanks for the info. I do not subscribe to AJN and was unable to access the article online without activating a new subscription. Oh well...thanks for the start!

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I have never worked in a LTC facility that had an AED. That includes rehab and subacute units. I do think it would be wise to have one, but I am tickled pink to have a crash cart that hasn't been robbed blind when I come on shift. I think it is a bit ironic that you can find an AED at malls and casinos but not at a healthcare facility.

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Thanks froggylegs...it is ironic isn't it???? Our facility is situated very close to our hospital however depending on how busy a time it is will determine the response time for EMS. If anyone has statistics on use of AED's in LTC facilites AFTER 2003 or can direct me toward some websites I would greatly appreciate it. My administrator is not convinced by any of the data available through 2003....I ned something pretty heavy to justify the expense given our proximityto the ER.

Have a great day everyone! Happy CNA week to any CNA's who happen to read this:-)

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