Dear Partner
We are aware that you are awaiting replacement electrodes for your Cardiac Science G5 defibrillator. Whilst we are chasing Cardiac Science for a delivery, the following advice has been issued by them:
“We are, as you know, currently experiencing significant supply concerns with a component that is contained within each G5 electrode set currently. The factory in China which produces this for us has been shut by the Government due to the Coronavirus restrictions that they have enforced & shipments due to us have therefore stopped. Unfortunately, we don’t yet have a date as to when the factory will re-open. I can only apologise for this although I’m sure you will all understand that these are unusual times globally & that this is something which is beyond our control.
So what needs to happen for any CHT G5 Defibrillators which are now showing as not being ‘Rescue Ready’ (i.e. the indicator at the top right of the unit is showing as Red with a black cross through it)?
Additional ‘Rescue Ready’ checking of the connected electrode set
When the date shown on the electrode packaging is reached, the device will detect this as a part of its daily self-testing & change the ‘Rescue Ready’ indicator to red which will be accompanied by an audible ‘beep’ every 30 seconds to advise the person charged with checking the device that this has happened. This doesn’t mean however that the electrodes will not perform in an emergency; simply that the expiry date has been reached.
If this happens then, & this is where a little additional work is required each day, the responsible person at each site should open the lid of their G5 to turn it on.
They will then hear the voice prompt ‘Maintenance Required’.
As this is being heard, the device will then re-check the status of the connected electrodes &, if they then are cleared in this additional self-check, the ‘Rescue Ready’ indicator will change from red to green. Their G5 will then proceed to the full rescue voice & text prompts.
As soon as they see the ‘Rescue Ready’ indicator change to green, they should then close the lid &, as the advisory voice / text prompt could not be followed, the ‘Rescue Ready’ indicator will return to red & the audible ‘beep’ will continue to sound.
This procedure should be followed daily to ensure that the ‘Rescue Ready’ indicator does change to green after this additional self-check.”
We hope that this helps in the short term, and until supplies are resumed. Cardiac Science assure us that the electrodes will work for a while beyond their expiry date. If you have in-date spare electrodes, then please do swap these over.
However, we appreciate that this may not be a practical solution for most sites, as the machine is beeping this may run down the battery on your device more quickly and could potentially cause confusion in a rescue situation. As an alternative that you may prefer we would advise you log onto your defib site and use the "report a problem" button to request we de-activate your site with the ambulance service. You can then remove the battery once we have confirmed to you the site is de-activated thus saving the life of the machine and eliminating the issue of expired electrodes impeding a rescue. Once the current situation in the UK changes and supplies are readily available again you will be able to re-activate your site once your pads have been recieved, by submitting a "site check" on your defib page to let us know everything is back in working order.
Thank you for your understanding.
Community Heartbeat Trust