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How Often Should AEDs Be Replaced?
It’s not an unusual question, and in the following article, we’ll look at how often you should be replacing your AEDs!
How often should AEDs be replaced? It’s always a hard question to answer, with a few variables that you’ll need to consider. There’s no one size fits all answer, but in most cases, an AED will last a minimum of eight years, and then it’s time to replace it with a new AED unit.
According to the American Hospital Association’s 2004 Estimated Useful Lives of Depreciable Hospital Assets lists the average life expectancy of an AED at five years. The Department of the Army Technical Bulletin (TB MED 7) specifies the life expectancy of an AED at eight years.
A lot will depend on how you look after your AED, where you store it, and how often you’re dragging it out to use. Obviously, in a ship or marine environment, or a vehicle, the AED is going to get banged around a lot more. If it’s kept in a cabinet in a first-aid office, you’re probably going to get a few more years out of it.
How can you tell when there is something wrong with your AED, and it needs to be replaced?
One of the great things about AEDs is that you don’t need to be continually checking and monitoring them. Most AEDs will perform a self-test, either daily, weekly, or monthly depending on the brand and model. It’s a good idea to have the AED stored somewhere visible where you or other employees can see the status light. Some AEDs have a noise alert when there is an error, while others have a flashing light that indicates maintenance is required.
What kind of issues would cause you to replace your AED?
It’s essential that you replace the pads and batteries on your AED before they reach their expiration date. The last thing you want to see is your AED not ready for service when an emergency occurs because the pads or battery aren’t up to standard.
Depending on the brand of the AED, the pads and batteries last between two and five years before they’ll expire, and you’ll need to replace them.