Pediatric Pads for AED

Specialties Camp

Published

Specializes in Pediatrics, School Nursing, VNA, Camp.

We have a philips Heartstart AED and the pediatric pads are about $100. We are a boys camp - ages 8-15. There are occasionally smaller children on the island, but rarely. The budget is tight this year and I'd love to use that money some other way. Anyone just go with adult pads since the AEDs are attenuated anyway?

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Specializes in Home Health (PDN), Camp Nursing.

Well there are two schools of thought to this question. From a camp nurse prospective I see your point, child pads are very expensive, and only used in a small portion of our population. Also cardiac arrests are high acuity low occurrence events.

As a AHA instructor the current science advises using a manual defibrillator. If using an AED they advise using child pads, and in the absence of child pads, adult pads may be used. So from the AHAs standpoint you would be within protocol, if you use adult pads.

I ponder if your more open to litigation knowing that your population would be children and not providing ideal equipment, although any defibrillator is considered appropriate per AHA standards.

Personally if you only have one defibrillator I would want to stock both child and adult pads. If I had more than one unit I would stock the one I was most likely to use with both and any others with adult pads only to simplify decision making for bystanders (and also to save money)

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Specializes in retired LTC.

Big al lpn covered what I was thinking. It's a matter of liability and lawsuits should you deviate from the manufacturer's recommendations or from generally accepted conventional usage for your population.

I think an example may be the use of a foley catheter as an abdominal GT such as Flexiflo. The paper packaging sleeve on foleys clearly says "FOR UROLOGICAL USE ONLY". Now we all know that foleys are sometimes used as GTs. In an emergent situation I have used a foley, solely for the purpose of maintaining an open stoma. But there are places that ROUTINELY use foleys as substitute GTs for cost containment. But foley lumens are not intended for enteral formula acidity/alkalinity & viscosity. There's no disc to prevent tube migration (despite the best taping attempts); I have seen FC-induced mechanical gastroenteritis. That's HARM from an improperly used foley; the facility could be held liable for pt injury.

God forbid, if you had an unsuccessful code event, a family could well sue because of improper equipment used. And I don't think you'd have a leg to stand on. Not worth the risk!

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As a AHA instructor the current science advises using a manual defibrillator. If using an AED they advise using child pads, and in the absence of child pads, adult pads may be used. So from the AHAs standpoint you would be within protocol, if you use adult pads.

Source?

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Specializes in Home Health (PDN), Camp Nursing.
Source?

Per the the guidelines published in circulation in 2010. Page 81-82. Also in the BLS HCP video and instructor materials.

http://cardiologiadepanama.org/uploads/2010-aha-guidelines.pdf

althoigh they do recomend that facilities that have regular contact with children have a manual defibrillator. A standard I don't think many camps comply with.

the consensus seems to be that any defibrillation is preferable to none, and if the dose is not ideal the AHA seems to give their blessing to rapid use over absolute precision.

I I am an AHA instructor, but am only an Internet lawyer. Any issues of liability would be the reln of actual legal counsel.

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