Thanks to BitterEnd’s Captain Rodriguez for pointing this out. I’ve actually written a couple of features on Automatic External Defibrillators (see Wikipedia for some background) in Southern Boating and Pacific Yachting. Actually, I was surprised, doing a quick check, to see that I have NOT featured that content here at Navagear! Perhaps that will be a MadMariner feature.
In any case, it makes sense for some boaters, marinas, and yacht clubs to carry AEDs. AEDs are inexpensive, and you don’t need any specialized training to use one; basic first aid with CPR will do. So if you have an AED aboard, or in the clubhouse, how do you let others in the marina or anchorage know it’s there?
With a flag, of course! Here’s one that’s available online:
Automated External Defibrillator-Nautical Flag & Decal
Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) are available without prescription. AEDs can save lives of heart attack and lightning strike victims in ventricular fibrillation by a rescuer attaching the pads and activating the unit. Special discounts are available for nautical purchasers.
The AED nautical flag and decal have been developed to identify potential rescuers with available defibrillators. The flag identifies the presence of the defibrillator and the peel-off decal identifies where the defibrillator is stored. Power squadrons, yacht clubs, regattas, mariners, and other groups of boaters are encouraged to acquire AEDs. The flag will be displayed on the facility flagstaff or on boats with defibrillators.
Flags are 14 inches x 21 inches for boats under 50 feet and 16 inches x 24 inches for larger boats. Costs are $25 each for the small flag and $50 for the larger flag.
Contact decals are peel-on and peel-off so as not to damage the surface of the storage unit. These are 5 inches x 5 inches and display the nautical flag symbol with AED and are $5 each.
The flags and decals can be obtained by e-mail to eeharrison253@hotmail.com Checks or money orders are accepted.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
I had looked into getting an AED for my boat, but was discoraged by nautical web sites that stated that it need to be followed up by an immediate transfer to the hospital, or otherwise they provide no measurable benefit … making them entirely useless on boats.
While it’s true that a Sudden Cardiac Arrest victim needs genuine in-patient cardiac care follow-up, as soon as possible, the alternative is, well, to be dead. So if you have an AED aboard, and you revive a person who’s heart is not beating, and they live long enough for the USCG to airlift them to the hospital, that’s pretty much a successful outcome.