First aid in the home has come a long way since the days when we all had a pack of Bandaid and a bottle of antiseptic in the bathroom cupboard to cure all ills. First aid kits had gotten bigger and bigger over the years as we all became less willing to leave things to chance. The latest must have gadget in the home is the automated external defibrillator, those machines with the pads attached to restart a heart after it has suffered a cardiac arrest.

Check Online For AED Reviews

The market has been pretty much flooded with these of late, but before you rush out and buy one there are few things to consider. Start by heading online and checking a few consumer reviews of automated external defibrillators as, with everything, there are some better than others that may not be necessarily reflected on the pricetag. Obviously look for positive reviews, but also look for those that have failed in their task and/or have been recalled by the manufacturer.

A course in CPR is also recommended as this in tandem with the defibrillator offers the victim of a cardiac arrest the best possible chance of survival until the paramedics get there. There’s also the chance that you will witness a cardiac arrest out of the home and a defibrillator isn’t to hand, in the mall or on the street for example, and your efficient administration of CPR could literally mean the difference between life and death.

Life Saving Investment

The only heart defibrillator that is worth parting with your cash for is the one that will be there when you need it in an emergency, and delivers what it promises. A home defibrillator doesn’t come cheap, and you wouldn’t expect it to. This piece of kit is an investment in the future health and wellbeing of your loved ones, and you really can’t put a price on that.

If you are struggling to meet the cost of a AED but feel that it is something that you really want in your home, check with your insurer to see if they will meet some or all of the cost. The most basic of models carries a pricetag of over $1000, which is a small price to pay when it can save someone’s life, but a lot of money to find if you don’t have a great wage or have a family to look after.

When you consider what these automated external defibrillators actually do, and the fact that they are designed for use in the home, you wouldn’t expect them to only cost a couple of hundred dollars or so, and if they did come in this cheap you probably wouldn’t trust them to do the job they are intended for. There is a very small time frame during which a heart can be restarted before the risk of brain damage kicks in, and a home defibrillator gives you the chance of making the most of that time frame and restarting a heart.

Self Test The Defibrillator

While all the automated external defibrillators have basically the same function, check out the extra features they carry. Self testing is a must so you know that it is always there waiting to be used and will work correctly, and you can even get machines which react to the way you are handling them and correct you. Little things like this can make all the difference, and some of the cheaper, more basic machines won’t carry these features.

Sudden cardiac arrest is the singular biggest killer in both men and women, and can strike anyone at any time, that is what is most terrifying. Don’t think that because you’re household is healthy and nobody has any history of heart trouble that you don’t need one, better safe than sorry is a much overused adage, but never has it been more prevalent than when used in the context of having a portable heart defibrillator in your home.

The key points to look for when perusing automated external defibrillators with a view to buying one is quality and functionality. This is simply a machine designed to save lives, and never compromise that by buying a cheaper model that will be inadequate for your needs or sacrificing extra features that you think you won’t need but invariably will.