The CellAED from Rapid Response Revival Research Ltd of Australia is due to hit the UK shelves around May 2023 and will be available through a small number of distributors.
As well as its small size and lightweight construction, it's single use, and the pricing model is something very new for the UK market. An initial one-off purchase cost of £330 (incl VAT) gets you your defibrillator, you then sign up for an annual membership fee of £130 (incl VAT) per year. As long as you keep paying the £130 every year, the manufacturer will replace your defib with a new one when it is used on a patient or its built-in non-rechargeable battery runs low. The battery is currently estimated to last around 18-24 months. Included in the £130 you get your defib automatically monitored for battery levels and faults etc via a 4G sim card which is included. Just remember to update your contact details for each individual CellAED so that you get the SMS texts or email alerts.
Having seen one for real, and played with it, I really like it, and will certainly be ordering a few to keep in the cars and share around the family. We all like gadgets in our family, and this is a really cool gadget to stick in your home or car or camping bag.
Personally, I don't think the CellAED will negatively affect sales of your £1000 defibs that we are all used to seeing and buying. There's no doubt the CellAED will appeal to those who can't afford to fork out £1000 in one hit. Even with many UK defib distributors now offering easy payment terms over X months, it can still be a lot of money if this is a personal purchase. Hopefully it will just mean lots more defibs out there across our communities, workplaces, and most importantly, our homes. Remember, 80% of out-of-hospital cardiac arrests happen in the home.
I'll happily have 3 CellAEDs dotted around my home and outside buildings, whereas I probably wouldn't spend £2535 on buying 3 HeartSine PAD350Ps to do the same coverage.
(Update: In July 2023 I actually ordered 5 CellAEDs for use at home, cars and for various family members).
I've done the following table looking at the total cost of ownership over a 12-year period. You can decide if you think your regular defib will last 12 years, I know of plenty that do. At 5-6 years, the cost of total ownership is closer, maybe we will change our defibs more often as technology improved.
By year 6 you could be on the third CellAED, and I'm sure that model will look nothing like the first one you received this year, maybe even smaller, maybe cheaper, hopefully a longer battery life, and maybe more bells and whistles, although its current simplicity is also one of its key selling points.
I've seen lots of people rightly question the environmental impact of the CellAED given that the item is made of plastic and is single-use. People and organisations are also waiting on more clinical data with regard to CellAED's max 80J energy levels, this needs to be published by the manufacturers so it can be peer-reviewed.
I've had to use the current end-user internet battery and pad prices for the 12-year period, so this is just an example based on today's pricing. If you purchase your defibs in bulk and get better prices than below, then the total cost will reduce accordingly.
Depending on how many times you think the average AED gets deployed, the below figures will change quite dramatically. If you have any suggestions as to how else the data could be displayed, do feel free to drop me an email with your suggestions.
Who knows what all the other AED manufacturers across the globe have in store for us with their new product lines in 2023 and 2024.
Drop me an email and let me know what you think about the defib market; or if you would like permission to use my chart.
Update 12/09/2023 - You can now order the CellAED right now via the official UK Distributor.
CellAED now in stock and available for immediate despatch. Click HERE to order. COMING SOON: ChatGPT, GPT-4, and AI, how can it be used in the medical supplies industry. www.cellaid.co.uk www.cellaed.life