Portable Defibrillator

[Cheezer]

Swamp-

I wouldn't say I'm embarrassed, but I'm defineately not proud. I work for Xcel energy in MInnesota-used to be a great company when it was NSP, but since the merger with NCE it has gone on a perpetual slide. It used to be the employees were considered assets instead of liabilities.

[IronLine]

Hey ya'll!! After some mild discussion and the putting of my apprentice foot down, we got a CPR/First Aid/AED Program started here at work. I was a medic for 4 years before coming here, I brought it up, and now I got the responsability of the training hahaha. Anyways, was curious if anyone here was familiar with the safety practices of using an AED while on a steel tower? I'm assuming that since contact is being made with the steel that any charge delivered by the AED could easily track to the steel, either dispersing that shock or causing some damage to the injured man. Any input? Fired off some emails to the manufacturer of our AEDs and still waiting on a reply.
Also, whenever we transfer off to the towers, we are wearing our Faraday Suits. For anyone out there who doesn't know, its your typical barehand suit, socks, gloves, bibs, and jacket made of a combination of Nomex and Stainless Steel. Now the idiot proof answer would be to completely remove the suit prior to delivering the shock, but any ideas about trying to remove the gloves and socks as well as the top and bottoms?
Thanks ya'll!

[BigClive]

The AED pulse is delivered between the pads and has no reference to earth/ground, so it does not pose a risk on steelwork. Ideally thre victim would be lying on a flat solid surface when it was applied though, to facilitate CPR.

The only requirement if the recipient is wearing a conductive oversuit is that the chest is exposed for the application of the pads. The suit could remain on.

I think the most important aspect of training linemen in the use of the defibrillator is to make them realise that it was designed for THEM, is easy to use and something they should be proud to have in their truck.

Just for reference, I'm doing the power and lighting on the Edinburgh Military Tattoo at the moment, and the defibrillators we have on site are the Philips Heartstart ones.

[IronLine]

I gotta tell ya I like the Philips. As a medic I'd run across a lot of them, but these are undoubtedly "Lineman Proof". I'm still waiting on a reply from the manufacturer about the suits, my company's pushing hard to get some regulation set in stone regarding the hotsuits in a CYA attempt here, and they want some technical documentation behind it. I understand that the pulse is designed to travel specifically in a biphasic manner between the two pads, but if there is no danger of tracking, why does the person have to be removed from say, a puddle of water, prior to use? (Some aspects of the AED's still elude me lol)

[Cheezer]

I'm no expert and can only go by what I've seen, but we had a friend of ours have a massive(and eventually fatal)heart attack while playing hockey. He was on the bench when this happened and this seemed like the best place to do CPR. The paramedics arrived with an AED and used it on him while he was on the metal bench. When the charge was delivered, there was distinct tracking on the metal bench. This could have been from the moisture and sweat on his body, I don't know. Not a good night.

[BigClive]

Sorry, that must have been an unpleasant experience.

It looks like I'm learning more about AEDs now. I would have thought the charge would have been confined to the chest area between the pads with a modest gradient around them. I guess the sweat on the skin would have made it highly conductive across the surface. Something to learn from.

[grey dog]

Here in the mid west UlC has been setting up a new operations area for 17 line maintenence crews. PLease understand this is everything from hammers
to buckets, hot stick trailers, live line equipment, presses, dies and everything else a crew will need to work on high line and transmission subs.
We have a tool committee that has put in many many hours on this. By the way, that group is made up of line hands that will be using the tools and equipment themselves. Not a bunch of office accountants and REMFS.
On that tool list are AEDs for each crew.
Had it not been for this on going discussion on Powerlineman I doubt that those would have been ordered.
I was in an office at my old co.(Alliant) and saw that they do have AEDs now, it was right there--- on the WALL in the OFFICE!
Then they wonder why many of the linehands left to join ULC's crews.
I'd like to thank all of you that have taken the time to write in about AED's. Keep it up. YOU are making a difference in the lives of your brothers.
Thank YOU
Grey Dog

[BigClive]

Sounds good! Now we just have to make the other guys realise that it's something they should have too.

I get the feeling there's going to be an avalanche effect. Once they start appearing in line trucks on a regular basis others will want them too.

There's a point that the companies without them will face serious legal charges for failing to provide what is basically a common sense piece of gear in the power industry. I mean it REALLY was originally invented for linemen just as my signature line says.....

[IronLine]

Hey there ya'll, I finally got ahold of the Philips engineering department and got ahold of some unpublished tests that they conducted regarding the possibility of voltage tracking through the surrounding environment, if anyone wants it please PM me and I will email it to ya!

[hawaiilinemen]

All of our bucket trucks are equiped with an AED and it saved my friends life about a year ago. After his incedent we are trying to get to AED's per crew so that when there are 2 men in the bucket if need there is a AED for both of them. This was a result of my friends incedent where him his partner were both hurt and an AED can only be used on one person. Lucky for them only of them needed the AED otherwise who has to chose which guy gets to have his life saved and which one doesn't go home.