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In a prospective, multicenter cohort study of 14,420 adult patients with nontraumatic out-of-hospital cardiac arrest in the U.S. and Canada between 2005 and 2007, researchers assessed initial rhythm, use of automated external defibrillators (AEDs), survival, and location of arrest (residential vs. public setting).
Among 12,930 patients who had known initial rhythms or had received at least one shock from a bystander-applied AED, arrests were witnessed by bystanders in 39%, AEDs were applied by bystanders in 2%, and arrests were witnessed by emergency medical services (EMS) in 9%. Ventricular fibrillation/pulseless ventricular tachycardia was the initial rhythm in significantly more public arrests than home arrests among those witnessed by by…