Evaluation of defibrillators

Abstract

A recent edition of ‘Health Equipment Information’ (‘HEI’), No. 129 published in October 1984, contains evaluation reports on a further three defibrillators. These are the Albury Instruments Life-Gard 80 and Life-Gard 86 and the Temtech Liteguard.

Technical and user evaluation was carried out for the DHSS within the Sheffield and Rotherham Area Health Authorities, with the equipment being assessed against BS 5724 Part 1, supplemented by a particular defibrillator standard, IEC Publication 601-2-4. The protocols used for the hospital trials were devised jointly by the DHSS, the clinicians involved in the trial, and the assessors at the evaluation centre. Earlier evaluation reports have been published in this journal, the first containing a discussion on points to consider before deciding what to buy [1 and 2]. An extensive review of defibrillator design and development has also been published [3].

For full details of the evaluation findings readers should consult ‘HEI 129’—the following contains extracts from the report.