A three-year study of witnessed out-of-hospital cardiac arrest in Japan found that increased availability of public-access automated external defibrillators (AEDs) leads to earlier administration of life-saving shock and to an increase in the survival rate for victims of sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) with ventricular fibrillation (VF).
Japan AED study video (click to view)
The study, described in the March 18 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, looked at 312,319 incidents of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest and focused on the 12,631 witnessed incidents that involved VF. VF is a type of irregular heartbeat that can be treated by laypersons using an automated external defibrillator. Of the VF group, 462 (nearly 4 percent) received prompt AED treatment from bystanders.
During the course of the study, the proportion of victims of sudden cardiac arrest with VF treated using public-access AEDs rose from less than 1% to 6%. In July 2004, the law changed in Japan to make it possible for laypersons to use AEDs. The study was conducted from 2005 through 2007. During that time, the availability of public-access AEDs in inhabited areas of Japan more than quadrupled.
The study reported that for the overall group who suffered witnessed sudden cardiac arrest with VF, 14% were alive one month later with minimal neurologic impairment. Among the subgroup of patients who received shocks from public-access AEDS, 31% were alive one month later with minimal neurologic impairment. The study was conducted by researchers for Japan’s Fire and Disaster Management Agency.
The video, from Insidermedicine.com, talks about the implications of the study.
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Thu, Mar 25, 2010 |
AEDs, Outside the US