Access, education, drones – what are the most promising investments for improving outcomes of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest
OA Version
Citation
Abstract
Despite decades of investment and research, out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) remains a profound cause of mortality and morbidity in the Unites States. One of the most impactful ways in which OHCA outcomes can be improved is through increasing access to and the rapid use of life saving automated external defibrillators (AEDs). There are currently three main strategies to improve OHCA outcomes through improved AED use. The primary strategy of the three has been focused on the implementation of public access defibrillation (PAD) programs. Existing PAD programs are theoretically promising, but their actual impact has fallen short of expectations. There are numerous barriers that have led to starkly low PAD AED-use rates, which range from both technical aspects of PAD program design to psychological factors regarding willingness of bystanders to use the PAD AEDs. While availability to public access AEDs is one arm of increasing their use in OHCA, education of members of the public on basic life support measures including CPR and the proper and quick use of an AED is critical in maximizing the use of public access AEDs and improving OHCA outcome. Lastly, the most technologically revolutionary of these strategies has been the novel development of AED-equipped drones, which can fly AEDs to scenes of reported OHCAs. Through a thorough review of published academic literature, it appears that the most promising dedication of research and investment would be into a layered approach combining all three of these main strategies. Each of these strategies alone hold impactful potential benefits but would work even better as compliments to each other, should the necessary better quality research be devoted to improving and optimally developing all three of these strategies.
Description
2024
License
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International