It is becoming more and more common for households in the UK to consider investing in a defibrillator for at home. There is a good reason for this –Â the nearest publicly accessible defibrillator is a 19 minute walk on average from any address in the country.
When someone suffers a cardiac arrest, they would typically suffer permanent brain damage within 5 minutes and die within 8 minutes without Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) and an AED shock. If CPR is given immediately and a defibrillator shock delivered within 3 to 5 minutes, survival rates can be as high as 74%
A defibrillator inside the home greatly reduces the time between collapse and shock – giving the best chance at survival. But which defibrillator is the most suitable in the home?
What makes a defibrillator suitable for home use?
When considering the best defibrillator for at home, ease of use, size, and low overall costs are often three of the most important factors for a customer.
While some form of training would be beneficial for anyone owning a defibrillator, all modern AEDs are designed to be simple enough for anyone to use in an emergency. The decision on the right defibrillator for you can come down to personal preference on features.
Here are some of Defib Warehouse’s picks for suitable at home defibrillators.
Primedic HeartSave Y
The Primedic HeartSave Y is a small semi automatic defibrillator designed and developed in Germany. The HeartSave Y comes with a paediatric switch, allowing the user to effortlessly switch between adult and child modes – making the unit perfect for households with children present.
The device is on a special offer with Defib Warehouse for February only, priced at £795 +VAT, a saving of £130 +VAT.
Physio Control LIFEPAK CR2 USB
The LIFEPAK CR2 is a lightweight and simple defibrillator, designed as the successor to the popular discontinued LIFEPAK CR Plus line of devices.
The fully automatic version of the LIFEPAK CR2 does not require the user to press the shock button themselves, and rather decides if a shock is required after analysing the casualty’s heart rhythm and guides the user through the steps they should take.
The device’s paediatric switch means that extra pads are not required for a child under 8, saving time and money for a household where children are present. The CR2 USB fully automatic is on a limited offer for just £999 +VAT.
iPAD NFK200
The iPAD NFK200 is a small device, produced by CU Medical Systems. One of the main factors making the NFK200 a good defibrillator for at home is the relatively low costs associated with the device.
Coming in at £695 +VAT, this AED is one of the more affordable units, but beyond this, the fact that the NFK200 has a built-in button to switch between Adult and Paediatric modes reduces the ongoing costs of buying seperate pads for infants/children if you have people under the age of 8 in the home.
ZOLL AED Plus
The ZOLL AED Plus is a reliable unit from the well-known American brand ZOLL. A big benefit that the AED Plus has for use at home is built-in CPR feedback.
This means that the device gives feedback on CPR, telling the responder to “push harder”, “push faster”, or “good compressions”. The AED Plus also uses  off-the-shelf lithium batteries (Duracell 123a) with up to 5 years battery life that can be purchased in most supermarkets.
The ZOLL AED Plus is priced at £895 +VAT.
Rental Packages
While any of these units are among the best defibrillator for at home and would give you and your family the best chance at survival in a cardiac arrest, we chose these particular units due to their convenience, price and ease of use with children.
If you want a defibrillator for your home without the up front investment of purchasing a device upfront, Defib Warehouse also offers rental packages from as low as 0.99p per day.
The rental packages also include defibrillator maintenance, storage, training and consumables included in the rental cost. The packages are available on a 5 year contract for companies, non-profit organisations and private homes.
You can view the Defibrillator Familiarisation course included with the rental packages here.
