AED battery disappears, woman who needed resuscitation dies

On Thursday evening, civilian helpers in Schaijk were not able to use a public AED to resuscitate a woman because the battery in the device was missing, Omroep Brabant reported. The woman who was to be resuscitated died. However, it is not clear whether she would have survived if the AED had been working.

Jan Albers, who has managed AEDs in Schaijk and Reek for years, is stunned and assumes that the AED's battery was stolen. According to him, batteries like these are worth 250 euros. “But why would you steal such a thing? The people behind this are literally playing with lives,“ he told the broadcaster.

Automated external defibrillators (AED) are portable devices that hang in public places and are used during resuscitation efforts. With the help of electric shocks, the heart rhythm can be restored should cardiac arrest occur, for example.

As HartslagNu reported, it is usually the case that the first six minutes after a cardiac arrest are crucial. Those who are resuscitated within these minutes and who may then use an AED have the greatest chance of survival, according to the platform's site.