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The base issue with these is - besides the initial cost - is the maintenance. An unused (hopefully) defibrillator needs to be periodically checked for battery

by jaclaz 5y ago

The base issue with these is - besides the initial cost - is the maintenance. An unused (hopefully) defibrillator needs to be periodically checked for battery levels and (I believe) some sort of diagnostics run to be certain that when/if needed it will be efficient. Like with fire extinguishers or other periodical checks, most probably this must be done by someone qualified/specialized, which may represent a non trivial cost, I wouldn't be surprised if it was something in the 200-400 Euro/year or something like that, and probably every n (5-8?) years you would need to replace the device with a new one. Besides, there is an issue (in non-restricted access placements) about theft and vandalism.

martin_a 5y ago
See the other comment please, seems like service cost is reasonable. Vandalism and theft sure are problems, placing them in locations with either camera surveillance (bank foyers, gas stations) or 24/7 personell available might be solutions to these problems.
- jaclaz 5y ago
  If you think about the potential good it can make in case of need, the cost (whatever it is) is reasonable, what I was trying to say (without in any way negating the usefulness of having more of these in more places) is that the initial cost is small when compared to the overall costs (direct and indirect). It has been introduced by Law only recently here (Italy) in a number of public places, and there are a lot of perplexities about the bureaucracy connected, the reliability of this or that model (or manufacturing firm) availability of spares, legal responsabilities of the provider, etc. I believe (but I may be wrong as - as said - they are not yet common here) that the trend is towards some forms of "service" or lease/rent for the devices including their maintenance and all the bureaucratic paper and electronic work (by Law the device needs to be "registered" on a "online map"). Costs at the moment for this latter approach (rent + service) start from as low as 20 to something like 60 Euro/month for 48/60 months contracts, AFAIK, and they include an insurance against theft/vandalism, but it has to be seen how it will work out. Some details of the norms around these are not clear (yet).

by jaclaz 5y ago

martin_a 5y ago

See the other comment please, seems like service cost is reasonable. Vandalism and theft sure are problems, placing them in locations with either camera surveillance (bank foyers, gas stations) or 24/7 personell available might be solutions to these problems.

jaclaz 5y ago
If you think about the potential good it can make in case of need, the cost (whatever it is) is reasonable, what I was trying to say (without in any way negating the usefulness of having more of these in more places) is that the initial cost is small when compared to the overall costs (direct and indirect). It has been introduced by Law only recently here (Italy) in a number of public places, and there are a lot of perplexities about the bureaucracy connected, the reliability of this or that model (or manufacturing firm) availability of spares, legal responsabilities of the provider, etc. I believe (but I may be wrong as - as said - they are not yet common here) that the trend is towards some forms of "service" or lease/rent for the devices including their maintenance and all the bureaucratic paper and electronic work (by Law the device needs to be "registered" on a "online map"). Costs at the moment for this latter approach (rent + service) start from as low as 20 to something like 60 Euro/month for 48/60 months contracts, AFAIK, and they include an insurance against theft/vandalism, but it has to be seen how it will work out. Some details of the norms around these are not clear (yet).