Can You Find an Automated External Defibrillator If a Life Depends on It?

Abstract

Every year, approximately 300 000 Americans have an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, and survival rates are dismal—approximately 6.4%.1 Automated external defibrillators (AEDs) can restart the heart and provide life-saving audible cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) instructions to aid victims. For patients with ventricular fibrillation, rapid defibrillation with CPR can improve chances of survival to more than 50%.2–4 AEDs can be easily and effectively used by untrained laypersons and are located in public places such as airports, recreation centers, banks, casinos, churches, gyms, and schools.5 Despite the life-saving potential of AEDs, they are of no value if they cannot be located and brought to the victim. Further, there is no US map of AED locations, nor do we even know where all the AEDs are located. Devices are purchased by distributors who then sell them on the Internet, in bulk, or individually. AED registration is the responsibility of the device owner, and the requirements and process differ significantly by region. The Food and Drug Administration has recently highlighted how the lack of registration data makes device recalls and surveillance for potential adverse events challenging. Additionally, this creates a barrier to the use of AEDs when they are needed. Imagine bystanders assisting the resuscitation of a victim in a public area, unaware that an AED is located less than 100 feet away inside a nearby store. They have called 911, and the local emergency medical service personnel are en route, but the emergency dispatchers do not realize that an AED is nearby. The very limited time frame for defibrillation success is certainly more likely to be achieved if those bystanders not providing CPR could be guided to a device that had been previously located and mapped. The problem is easy to understand, and the solution is easy to imagine. Indeed, …