title: High acceptance of a home AED programme by survivors of sudden cardiac arrest and their families.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The feasibility and acceptance of providing sudden cardiac arrest survivors with life supporting first aid training and automated external defibrillators (AEDs) at their homes is unknown. Preliminary experiences are reported here.
  
  
  METHODS
  Trained medical students provided life supporting first aid courses including AED training to cardiac arrest survivors. Patients were asked to invite relatives and friends to such training sessions at their home. Laerdal Little Anne and Heartstart AED Trainer were used. An AED was placed at the patients' disposal. A refresher course took place 1 year later. Questionnaires were used to evaluate the project.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Since 1999, 88 families have been trained and provided with an AED. Immediately after the training 90% (66% "agree", 24% "maybe yes") believed they would perform first aid correctly, 1 year later 98% did so (68% "agree", 29% "maybe yes") (p=0.03). Families considered feeling much safer having an AED at home. The handling of an AED was regarded to be easy and AEDs would even be used on strangers. Only on one occasion an AED was used in a real emergency situation.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Providing patients and relatives with life support first aid and AED training at their homes is feasible and has raised no major objections by the family members. All have considered handling of an AED much simpler than providing basic life support and therefore none think that it would be a major problem to use it in case of an emergency. This still has to be proven.
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, Medical University of Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Moritz
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Haugk
authors.forename: Oliver
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Robak
authors.forename: Fritz
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Sterz
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Uray
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kliegel
authors.forename: Heidrun
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Losert
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Holzer
authors.forename: Harald
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Herkner
authors.forename: Anton N
authors.initials: AN
authors.lastname: Laggner
authors.forename: Hans
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Domanovits
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D047548:Defibrillators; D005190:Family; D005260:Female; D006323:Heart Arrest / Q000628:therapy*; D006701:Home Nursing / Q000193:education*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D017741:Survivors