Defibrillator Disinformation: Lifesaving Medical Devices are Not Woke

Defibrillator Disinformation: Lifesaving Medical Devices are Not Woke

Laurence Fox recently shared a video of a defibrillator station on Twitter with the caption ‘Move along. Nothing to see here’, sparking a social media backlash. In response to this, Dr Becky Alexis-Martin, a Senior Research Fellow at the University of Kent, shares her own lived experience of the importance of these life-saving machines:

In 2021, I was jolted into awareness of the life-saving importance of defibrillators as a young genetic arrhythmia survivor. I am extremely lucky to be alive. You can flip a coin to understand the likelihood of my condition being discovered within my short lifetime – or post-mortem. Thankfully, I survived.

As I waited for life-saving surgery and the implantation of my own internal defibrillation device to prevent lethal arrhythmia, I felt reassured by the presence of the chunky yellow and red boxes that contained our emergency defibrillators locally. In a cardiac emergency these life-saving devices can be easily used provide an electric shock to the heart that restores a normal heartbeat.

We usually do not think about our own heartbeat during our day-to-day lives. However, if you put your hand to the left of your chest, or your fingers to your wrist, then you should be able to feel the reverberations of your own heart. However, the body and its electrical circuits are not infallible. Each week in the UK alone, twelve young adults die suddenly due to undiagnosed hereditary heart conditions.

During cardiac arrest – where the heart stops pumping blood around the body – the defibrillator can be used to restart the heart’s rhythm. During arrhythmia the defibrillator can be used to reset correct a heartbeat that is too fast, too slow, or uneven. It is an undisputable fact that defibrillators have saved millions of lives. Yet only one in ten people who have a cardiac arrest out-of-hospital will survive. So, why is this statistic so strikingly low – and does disinformation contribute to public reluctance to use defibrillators in an emergency? Lack of public understanding of heart health clearly needs to be addressed.

Academic and policy-informed research during COVID-19 has demonstrated that high quality public health messaging is vital for widespread public understanding and health message adherence. However public health communication can be disrupted in several ways. Poor-quality, inadequate, or conflicting public health messaging can produce ignorance, distrust, or misunderstanding. Trust in proven and peer-reviewed medicine can also be corroded by prominent figures who are respected for achievements outside of health. This includes Laurence Fox and his recent tweet about defibrillators. It is thought that conflation between knowledges can create public confusion.

In the context of defibrillators and their operation there is an enormous gap between public understanding and action. It is no coincidence that just 15% of people feel “very confident” about operating a public defibrillator in an emergency. Most people do not realise that the defibrillator has a sound function to talk you through each stage of the process – and that it cannot deliver an unnecessary shock to a casualty. At worst, you will have tried to save someone’s life while waiting for an ambulance to arrive. At best you will save a life.

However, there is not enough awareness of their placement – despite a large-scale mapping National Defibrillator Network project by the British Heart Foundation.

Laurence Fox’s Tweet has been viewed more than 8.3 million times as of today, 18th January. However, his attitude is not unique but reflective of a broader cultural misunderstanding of medicine, science, and technology.

Despite this and recent disinformation there can be no doubt – defibrillators are there to save lives.

Dr Becky Alexis-Martin is a Senior Research Fellow at the University of Kent. Her current research explores the cultural and social parameters of cardiovascular health education. She is also interested in health geographies and medical histories. She lives with an internal cardiac defibrillation device.

About defibrillators:

Defibrillators work because the rhythm of the heart is determined by a sophisticated electrical signalling system. This system provides vital cues that instruct the organ to steadily contract and relax. These signals originate from clumps of specialised tissue in the atrium, known as the sinus nodes. Within a healthy heart at rest, the sinus nodes will generate a signal approximately 60-100 times per minute. This signal travels at speed across the heart to the atrioventricular node. The next stop on our electrical impulse journey is at the bundle of His. It is here that electric pathways bisect left and right before continuing their epic journey to the left and right ventricles. The atria contract a split second before the ventricles, to ensure that blood flows evenly across the heart on its journey to and from the body. Normally, this process of electro-muscular activity will occur millions of times in your lifetime.

Rugged Hank

Education Technology Day must be extended to prisons

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Typically thought of as being an easy to clean area of the home, hard floors have risen in popularity in recent decades. Globally, hard floors are the most common floor type,2 and research released today by Dyson has uncovered poor cleaning habits that mean hard floors are likely to be harbouring an array of hidden nasties. This comes as 32% of Brits – equating to 21.6 million people in the UK – will use the same dirty mop head for six months or more before replacing it. What’s more, one in 20 also admit to keeping the same mop for a year or longer, and one in 10 think it is acceptable to use the same mop 100 times, spreading dirt around their floors every time they use it. Cross contamination is a primary issue for most common and traditional mopping methods with germs and bacteria further being unknowingly spread around homes as Brits use dirty water to clean floors.3 45% only change the water to new water between rooms, whereas 41% wait even longer until it looks dirty. This could mean that floors are being washed with dirty water, adding more dirt rather than taking it away. Surprisingly, almost one in 10 (9%) even admit to not changing the dirty water at all when mopping. Over a quarter (28%) admit to mopping their floors once a fortnight or less while over half (53%) admit they don’t regularly clean behind appliances and leave dirt to build up for as long as six months at a time. image002.jpg On how to achieve a perfect barefoot clean feel after mopping, Geli Lee, Dyson Engineer and Home Cleaning Expert offers their top tips for eliminating dirt around the home: 1. Create a cleaning schedule to stay on top of dirt build-up. In the last year, there has been a 15% global reduction in the number of people who maintain regular cleaning schedules. 47% of the British public admitted to only being motivated to clean when they spot visible dirt or dust.4 Regular floor cleaning with a wet hard floor cleaner like the Dyson WashG1™ removes more stubborn dirt than vacuuming alone. It is important to have a debris free surface, clear any clutter from the floor or other surfaces. Choose the right machine: Different vacuums are designed for different floor types and home sizes. Some machines will be engineered with hard floors in mind and will struggle on thick pile carpets, for example. Choosing the right machine for your home will make a big difference to the ease and speed with which you’re able to clean your home. Clean your floors ‘little and often’. Washing your floors frequently in areas that receive more foot fall will help to stop dirt building up and getting trodden into your floor. Using a dedicated wet floor cleaner on hard flooring such as the Dyson WashG1 is helpful for this, as the versatile format means it vacuums and washes the floor simultaneously. Cleaning schedules have also become less regimented. In recent years only 41% of people claim to have a regular cleaning schedule, and 60% admit to cleaning reactively; being motivated to clean only when there is visible dirt or dust5. It’s perhaps not surprising, that a fifth of people are still concerned their floors are dirty after they’ve mopped them (22%) and one in four6 feel extremely worried about indoor dust at home. Geli Lee, Dyson Engineer and Home Cleaning Expert reveals why it is important to change the way we mop: “Cleaning your hard floors properly and regularly is important for maintaining a healthy environment around your home. Without a proper cleaning routine, dirt may unknowingly build up and spread around your home. It is evident from our research that current mopping habits mean British households aren’t cleaning their floors as effectively as they should. “From ignoring problem areas where dust and debris build up, cross contamination with dirty water to not replacing mop heads or inconsistent cleaning, current mopping behaviours may be making floors dirtier as opposed to cleaner. Moving away from traditional methods, wet floor cleaners like the Dyson WashG1 simplify the floor cleaning experience and provide a modern efficient and hygienic solution” To help take the guesswork out of mopping, the brand new WashG1 is Dyson’s first dedicated wet floor cleaner that tackles wet and dry debris in one go. Engineered for hygienic cleaning and maintenance, the WashG1 is revolutionising wet floor cleaning, removing the need for multi-products and multi-steps to achieve a barefoot clean feel around the home. To put the product to the test, Dyson have cleaned one of London’s most iconic landmarks The Victoria and Albert Museum. From cleaning the grand marble floors housing the most prestigious exhibits, to cleaning up leftover food in the Gamble Room Cafe, the WashG1 had a dirt busting tour of the museum leaving it spotless. Images can be found here. The WashG1 introduces Dyson’s engineering expertise to cleaning hard floors. With a 1 litre clean-water tank to cover flooring up to 290m2, the Dyson WashG1 uses a combination of hydration, absorption, and extraction technologies to remove wet and dry spills and stains simultaneously. The Dyson WashG1 is available to purchase now from Dyson.co.uk, retailing at £599.99.

Typically thought of as being an easy to clean area of the home, hard floors have risen in popularity in recent decades. Globally, hard floors are the most common floor type,2 and research released today by Dyson has uncovered poor cleaning habits that mean hard floors are likely to be harbouring an array of hidden nasties. This comes as 32% of Brits – equating to 21.6 million people in the UK – will use the same dirty mop head for six months or more before replacing it. What’s more, one in 20 also admit to keeping the same mop for a year or longer, and one in 10 think it is acceptable to use the same mop 100 times, spreading dirt around their floors every time they use it. Cross contamination is a primary issue for most common and traditional mopping methods with germs and bacteria further being unknowingly spread around homes as Brits use dirty water to clean floors.3 45% only change the water to new water between rooms, whereas 41% wait even longer until it looks dirty. This could mean that floors are being washed with dirty water, adding more dirt rather than taking it away. Surprisingly, almost one in 10 (9%) even admit to not changing the dirty water at all when mopping. Over a quarter (28%) admit to mopping their floors once a fortnight or less while over half (53%) admit they don’t regularly clean behind appliances and leave dirt to build up for as long as six months at a time. image002.jpg On how to achieve a perfect barefoot clean feel after mopping, Geli Lee, Dyson Engineer and Home Cleaning Expert offers their top tips for eliminating dirt around the home: 1. Create a cleaning schedule to stay on top of dirt build-up. In the last year, there has been a 15% global reduction in the number of people who maintain regular cleaning schedules. 47% of the British public admitted to only being motivated to clean when they spot visible dirt or dust.4 Regular floor cleaning with a wet hard floor cleaner like the Dyson WashG1™ removes more stubborn dirt than vacuuming alone. It is important to have a debris free surface, clear any clutter from the floor or other surfaces. Choose the right machine: Different vacuums are designed for different floor types and home sizes. Some machines will be engineered with hard floors in mind and will struggle on thick pile carpets, for example. Choosing the right machine for your home will make a big difference to the ease and speed with which you’re able to clean your home. Clean your floors ‘little and often’. Washing your floors frequently in areas that receive more foot fall will help to stop dirt building up and getting trodden into your floor. Using a dedicated wet floor cleaner on hard flooring such as the Dyson WashG1 is helpful for this, as the versatile format means it vacuums and washes the floor simultaneously. Cleaning schedules have also become less regimented. In recent years only 41% of people claim to have a regular cleaning schedule, and 60% admit to cleaning reactively; being motivated to clean only when there is visible dirt or dust5. It’s perhaps not surprising, that a fifth of people are still concerned their floors are dirty after they’ve mopped them (22%) and one in four6 feel extremely worried about indoor dust at home. Geli Lee, Dyson Engineer and Home Cleaning Expert reveals why it is important to change the way we mop: “Cleaning your hard floors properly and regularly is important for maintaining a healthy environment around your home. Without a proper cleaning routine, dirt may unknowingly build up and spread around your home. It is evident from our research that current mopping habits mean British households aren’t cleaning their floors as effectively as they should. “From ignoring problem areas where dust and debris build up, cross contamination with dirty water to not replacing mop heads or inconsistent cleaning, current mopping behaviours may be making floors dirtier as opposed to cleaner. Moving away from traditional methods, wet floor cleaners like the Dyson WashG1 simplify the floor cleaning experience and provide a modern efficient and hygienic solution” To help take the guesswork out of mopping, the brand new WashG1 is Dyson’s first dedicated wet floor cleaner that tackles wet and dry debris in one go. Engineered for hygienic cleaning and maintenance, the WashG1 is revolutionising wet floor cleaning, removing the need for multi-products and multi-steps to achieve a barefoot clean feel around the home. To put the product to the test, Dyson have cleaned one of London’s most iconic landmarks The Victoria and Albert Museum. From cleaning the grand marble floors housing the most prestigious exhibits, to cleaning up leftover food in the Gamble Room Cafe, the WashG1 had a dirt busting tour of the museum leaving it spotless. Images can be found here. The WashG1 introduces Dyson’s engineering expertise to cleaning hard floors. With a 1 litre clean-water tank to cover flooring up to 290m2, the Dyson WashG1 uses a combination of hydration, absorption, and extraction technologies to remove wet and dry spills and stains simultaneously. The Dyson WashG1 is available to purchase now from Dyson.co.uk, retailing at £599.99.

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