Public Access Defibrillation Is a Weak Link in the Chain of Survival

Given an estimated mortality increase of 7% to 10% for every minute delay in defibrillation after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, public access defibrillation is a strategy to improve survival. Investigators reviewed emergency calls for 1035 out-of-hospital cardiac arrest cases in Hampshire, England, from 2011 to 2012 to determine availability and use of public access automated external defibrillators (AEDs).

During this period, there were 673 public access AEDs in 278 locations. Callers reported access to an AED in only 44 cases (4%) and callers retrieved and used the AED in 18 cases, for an overall successful AED use rate of less than 2%.