Over Age 40 ? Please Consider an AED !

[IrishLass]

Originally Posted by psneeld

Probably the same as carrying an EPIRB when cruising to Antartica. Surviving till someone arrives is tricky and a long shot when you are possibly thousands of miles from a rescue resource...but every little bit of survival gear helps....yes you can debate costs..but if you can afford it...it could save a life.

Exactly! Sometimes, the question is not can you afford it; the question is can you afford not to?

[psneeld]

Originally Posted by IrishLass

Exactly! Sometimes, the question is not can you afford it; the question is can you afford not to?

In all fairness...I think often there's 2 schools of thought in these forums...long distance cruiser far, far away from any help..and 95% of all cruisers that are maybe a day or two away from land based help.

Ultimately...you never know. I've seen people almost die within 100 feet of dock in uber-rich communities and then there's the story of the south pacific sailor that got blood poisoning from a fish hook. He was going to die till a USCG C-130 flew a Navy SEAL team on scene where they parachuted in, administered IV antibiotics and sailed the guy a 1000 miles to the closest hospital (exact times and distances I'm not sure of but close...you get the point)...if you have all the answers to every at sea emergency....I'd like to teach a survival school with you...shoot me an e-mail

[barnakiel]

Ask any dentist and they will tell you - we are built to last 35 years!

Why carry another gadget that will do no more but extend this hopeless mortal coil, hopelessly trying to avoid the laws of LIFE?

b.

[JamuJoe]

Lass,
Suggest that you consult with an emergency medical professional before posting such advice. According to my instructor in Wilderness First Responder (PA-C with Wilderness Medical Associates and licensed Captain), AED's have a very low rate of saving lives unless followed within a very short time by Advanced Life Support. He advised that there is little value in carrying an AED aboard unless for a known-risk individual with access to ALS. Also. simply being over 40 does not put one at high risk for cardiac events.

[IrishLass]

JamuJoe: Sorry for the late reply. This issue has been thoroughly debated in another (recent) thread. I am a medical professional and I spent two years in emergency medicine, but thank you. All I suggested was that if you are over the age of 40 that you start to consider an AED. I won't go into any of the details, because you can read them in the other postings. However, over 30% of my patients aged 40-45 have coronary risk issues.

I also won't address any of this issues of the immediate need for follow-up with ACLS. Yes, that is ideal and in a perfection situation that is what you want. Having an MI or devleoping a dangerous arrythmia (VF) at sea is not a perfect situation and you have to do the best you can. Again .... this was thoroughly debated in the other thread, as well. There was never a meeting of the minds, so you will certainly find company no matter your opinion.

Thanks!