title: Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest locations in a rural community: where should we place AEDs?
abstract: Early defibrillation improves survival for patients suffering cardiac arrest from ventricular fibrillation (VF) or ventricular tachycardia (VT). Automated external defibrillators (AEDs) should be placed in locations in which there is a high incidence of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OOHCA). The study objective was to identify high-risk, rural locations that might benefit from AED placement. A retrospective review of OOHCA in a rural community during the past 5.5 years was conducted. The OOHCAs that occurred in non-residential areas were categorized based on location. Nine hundred, forty OOHCAs occurred during the study period of which 265 (28.2%) happened in non-residential areas. Of these, 127 (47.9%) occurred in healthcare-related locations, including 104 (39.2%) in extended care facilities. No location used in this study had more than two OOHCAs. Most (52.1%) non-residential OOHCAs occurred as isolated events in 146 different locations. Almost half of the OOHCAs that occurred in non-residential areas took place in healthcare-related facilities suggesting that patients at these locations may benefit from AED placement. First responders with AEDs are likely to have the greatest impact in a rural community.
authors.affiliation: Penn State University, College of Medicine, Hershey, Pennsylvania, USA.
authors.forename: Marc E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Portner
authors.forename: Marc L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Pollack
authors.forename: Steven K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Schirk
authors.forename: Melissa K
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Schlenker
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002648:Child; D018672:Community Health Planning / Q000379:methods*; D004554:Electric Countershock / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D004632:Emergency Medical Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006323:Heart Arrest / Q000401:mortality / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010414:Pennsylvania / Q000453:epidemiology; D012151:Resuscitation / Q000193:education; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012424:Rural Population