If you or your family have a history of heart problems and excessive body hair, you might want to consider booking a trip to your local beauty parlour.

Luca Vanzella / CC by

Furry people at risk of heart disease may wish to book a waxing appointment, as defibrillators may not work on chests with too much hair. The electropads on an AED need to be in direct contact with  the patient’s skin, so if their hair is too excessive, it can actually prevent the pads from sticking to their skin.

For successful defibrillation the electricity needs to flow from one electrode pad to the other, going through the chest. If the pads aren’t stuck on properly the charge of electricity will flow across the chest instead of through it. Not only will this be ineffective treatment it could also cause sparks and fire to start.

In August 2014, Jack Jordan was on a flight from Los Angeles to Albuquerque with his wife Caroline. During the flight Mr. Jordan fell unconscious, he had gone into cardiac arrest. Medical help was sought and a nurse came forward to give him Cardio-Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR).  But according to Mrs. Jordan the flight staff were unable to administer defibrillation straight away because Mr. Jordan’s chest was too hairy. By the time Mr. Jordan’s chest was shaved with the AED’s accompanying razor it was too late and he died.

Defibrillators cannot be used over clothing or on moist skin either. The patient’s chest must be dried before attempting defibrillation and all clothes on the chest must be taken off, even bras.

The defibrillators that Openhouse sell do come with ready kits that include a razor, to shave body hair, and tough cut scissors, to take the patients’ clothes off when the defibrillator needs to be administered.

If you are looking for a defibrillator with a ready kit take a look at out online stores oh-medical.com and oh-publicservices.com.