Automated External Defibrillators Inaccessible to More Than Half of Nearby Cardiac Arrests in Public Locations During Evening, Nighttime, and Weekends

TY - JOUR

T1 - Automated External Defibrillators Inaccessible to More Than Half of Nearby Cardiac Arrests in Public Locations During Evening, Nighttime, and Weekends

AU - Hansen, Carolina Malta

AU - Wissenberg, Mads

AU - Weeke, Peter

AU - Ruwald, Martin Huth

AU - Lamberts, Morten

AU - Lippert, Freddy

AU - Gislason, Gunnar Hilmar

AU - Nielsen, Søren Loumann

AU - Køber, Lars

AU - Torp-Pedersen, Christian

AU - Folke, Fredrik

PY - 2013/11/12

Y1 - 2013/11/12

N2 - BACKGROUND -: Despite wide dissemination, use of automated external defibrillators (AEDs) in community settings is limited. We assessed how AED accessibility affected coverage of cardiac arrests in public locations. METHODS AND RESULTS -: We identified cardiac arrests in public locations (1994-2011) in terms of location and time and viewed them in relation to the location and accessibility of all AEDs linked to the emergency dispatch center as of December 31, 2011, in Copenhagen, Denmark. AED coverage of cardiac arrests was defined as cardiac arrests within 100 m (109.4 yd) of an AED and further categorized according to AED accessibility at the time of cardiac arrest. Daytime, evening, and nighttime were defined as 8 AM to 3:59 PM, 4 to 11:59 PM, and midnight to 7:59 AM, respectively. Of 1864 cardiac arrests in public locations, 61.8% (n=1152) occurred during the evening, nighttime, or weekends. Of 552 registered AEDs, 9.1% (n=50) were accessible at all hours, and 96.4% (n=532) were accessible during the daytime on all weekdays. Regardless of AED accessibility, 28.8% (537 of 1864) of all cardiac arrests were covered by an AED. Limited AED accessibility decreased coverage of cardiac arrests by 4.1% (9 of 217) during the daytime on weekdays and by 53.4% (171 of 320) during the evening, nighttime, and weekends. CONCLUSIONS -: Limited AED accessibility at the time of cardiac arrest decreased AED coverage by 53.4% during the evening, nighttime, and weekends, which is when 61.8% of all cardiac arrests in public locations occurred. Thus, not only strategic placement but also uninterrupted AED accessibility warrant attention if public-Access defibrillation is to improve survival after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest.

AB - BACKGROUND -: Despite wide dissemination, use of automated external defibrillators (AEDs) in community settings is limited. We assessed how AED accessibility affected coverage of cardiac arrests in public locations. METHODS AND RESULTS -: We identified cardiac arrests in public locations (1994-2011) in terms of location and time and viewed them in relation to the location and accessibility of all AEDs linked to the emergency dispatch center as of December 31, 2011, in Copenhagen, Denmark. AED coverage of cardiac arrests was defined as cardiac arrests within 100 m (109.4 yd) of an AED and further categorized according to AED accessibility at the time of cardiac arrest. Daytime, evening, and nighttime were defined as 8 AM to 3:59 PM, 4 to 11:59 PM, and midnight to 7:59 AM, respectively. Of 1864 cardiac arrests in public locations, 61.8% (n=1152) occurred during the evening, nighttime, or weekends. Of 552 registered AEDs, 9.1% (n=50) were accessible at all hours, and 96.4% (n=532) were accessible during the daytime on all weekdays. Regardless of AED accessibility, 28.8% (537 of 1864) of all cardiac arrests were covered by an AED. Limited AED accessibility decreased coverage of cardiac arrests by 4.1% (9 of 217) during the daytime on weekdays and by 53.4% (171 of 320) during the evening, nighttime, and weekends. CONCLUSIONS -: Limited AED accessibility at the time of cardiac arrest decreased AED coverage by 53.4% during the evening, nighttime, and weekends, which is when 61.8% of all cardiac arrests in public locations occurred. Thus, not only strategic placement but also uninterrupted AED accessibility warrant attention if public-Access defibrillation is to improve survival after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest.

U2 - 10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.113.003066

DO - 10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.113.003066

M3 - Journal article

SN - 0009-7322

VL - 128

SP - 2224

EP - 2231

JO - Circulation

JF - Circulation

ER -