Legal aspect of AED use

Abstract

Introduction. In 2000 the PAD (Universal Access to Defibrillation) program was introduced in Poland. According to the main assumptions of the programme, considering the specificity of sudden cardiac arrest, i.e. its unpredictability, the most important is to guarantee the fastest and easiest possible access to AED equipment in non-hospital conditions. Aim. The main objective of the study was to analyse the most important legal acts providing for the possibility to use the AED in case of SCA in terms of possible limitations or facilitations established by the above mentioned legislative texts. Material and methods. The materials used in the paper were unified legal acts published in the Journal of Laws and industry literature focused on the legal aspects of using the AED. The paper analyses the content of the above mentioned publications. It focused on the specification of issues or standpoints concerning legal aspects of the use of external defibrillators in public space. Selected legislative acts directly relate to the environment and the discussed issue. Results. The increasingly widespread and widespread location of defibrillator apparatus in public spaces has contributed to a kind of rift between the two aspects: 1. providing assistance to people at risk, using advances in medical technology, 2. legal conditions. Conclusions. Based on several pieces of legislation that provide for completely different aspects of the use of AEDs (the device as a medical device, the need for first-aid measures, etc.), it does not increase public interest in helping a defibrillator victim. The interpretation of individual laws does not determine the seriousness of the analyzed issue.