Inequities in access and use of automated external defibrillators

Sudden cardiac death is one of the main causes of mortality in patients with known or occult cardiac disease and is potentially preventable by early resuscitation. Automated external defibrillators (AEDs) have evolved as ‘game changers’ in the treatment of haemodynamically unstable ventricular arrhythmias as they can be used by virtually untrained members of the public. The usage of AEDs, however, can be improved as they are only employed in <20% of resuscitations.1 Underuse of AEDs is a multifaceted problem with the number of available devices in a given distance to a person with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA). Burgoine et al describe the density of AEDs in Great Britain and correlate it with socioeconomic deprivation.2 They demonstrate differences in distances to the nearest 24/7-accessible AED between the most and least deprived communities. In addition, they also showed that there are differences between England, Scotland and Wales....
Source: Heart - Category: Cardiology Authors: Tags: Editorials Source Type: research