Panel / AED Heater Setup Advice

[Peach0032]

I run a local charity raising cash to install defibrillators (AED's) around our small town in South Manchester - Most of the 14 we have installed are either in an old phone box or attached to a building with a suitable power supply available for the lockbox heater (supplies just enough heat to protect the device from dropping below 5 degC.)

Our next site for an AED is at a local school gates of which is 100m away from any available power source (apart from street lighting however this opens a whole new can of worms dealing with the county council / highways agency - not easy) and the cost of installing a cable (through a field / car park) will use an awful lot of our available funds.

Therefore I need an independent device - Solar Panel, controller, battery, efficient heater, temperature controller, mounting post, etc.

The AED is located in a steel lockbox (with push button code available by calling 999) of which can easily be better insulated to protect the unit from the cold and can possibly be stored in a thermal bag to further reduce the demands on the heater?

Is there anywhere where I would be able to put a basic specification together and order a complete system?

Is there anything commercially available that may be close to our needs and with minor adaptation could be effective?

I really need guidance on selecting a suitable heater and from there we can get to controller, battery (for the winter months), control and panel size.

Thanks in advance,

Kev

 

[loz2754]

Have you considered the purpose built solar powered AED units that are already available?
Might be a simpler solution.

 

[Avo Mk8]

Hi Kev
If you Google 'solar powered AED cabinet', which you may have already done, there is at least one product on the market.

AED Protect Solar Powered Outdoor Defibrillator Cabinet | DefibWarehouse - Wide range of defibrillators

The brand new AED Protect solar powered outdoor cabinet is perfect for locations where you need to store a lifesaving defibrillator but mains power is not available. This standalone cabinet will help keep your AED at the correct temperature in summer and winter and provide monitoring of your AED...

defibwarehouse.co.uk

Costly though!
I came across at least one forum discussing this, so a bit of research on the web might give some clues ?

Solar Power solution to allow Defibrillator equipment to be accessible?

I know that the Forums are not meant for this type of thing, but there are many Solar aware people on this Forum and this is Community based that benefits the Public. We have just had the request below to provide a Solar solution to allow Defibrillator equipment to be accessible to the public eve...

forums.outandaboutlive.co.uk

 

[Peach0032]

Have you considered the purpose built solar powered AED units that are already available?
Might be a simpler solution.

Sorry - didn't see link

 

[loz2754]

Sorry - didn't see link

Here's one:

UK Made Defibrillator Cabinets | CardioCaddy

Robust outdoor cabinets from CardioCaddy, with 10 year extended warranty on all cabinets!

www.cardiocaddy.co.uk

 

[Peach0032]

Thanks all.
I am in discussions with the ambulance service to see if they are happy to register a publicly available unit without a heater as there is obviously a substantial saving if we can buy an insulated lock-box (£500) over a solar panel / heater lock-box (between £1800 and £2500).
In an ideal world obviously the solar version would be better and available 100% of the time where as an insulated version may only be available 98% of the time. However, if we then could then afford to have 2 units (including defibrillator) suitably positioned for example at either end of an estate reducing response times it may be an overall improvement???
In the UK would we expect the temperature to drop below zero for an AED stored in a thermal jacket and that stored within a heavily insulated box? It may be one advantage to global warming??
Should the ambulance service accept an unheated box I am leaning towards a that and then get hold of a temperature recorder such that we can monitor the extremes and go from there.

 

[DPG]

I think @pirate has installed defibs, might be worth seeing if he can help.

Or was it soneone else on here?

 

[pirate]

Sorry, just found this thread. I've only installed 1 so far, and it is on the wall of my local branch of the Men's Shed charity, so we went with the version with mains power for the heater. We have it checked regularly just to make sure all the indicators are showing everything in order.
Sorry I can't assist with the solar powered type, but it has given me an idea for another site we have where a defib would be in an excellent position for public access. We have access to a K6 telephone box in the local village precinct, but it has no mains power. I'd be grateful for any more comments on this.

 

[LouiseIGC]

Hi, I am in a similar situation and I wondered whether you managed to get around this issue please?

Thanks