Characteristics of volunteers responding to emergencies in the Public Access Defibrillation Trial.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the characteristics of volunteers responding to emergencies in the North American Public Access Defibrillation (PAD) Trial.


METHODS
The PAD Trial was a prospective evaluation of cardiac arrest survival in community facilities randomized to cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) or to CPR with automated external defibrillators (AEDs). The PAD volunteers' characteristics were analyzed using Poisson regression clustered on the facility and offset by the number of emergency episodes to which volunteers were exposed.


RESULTS
A total of 19,320 volunteers in 1260 facilities were trained to provide emergency care. Of these, 8169 volunteers were participating actively at their facility during a time when one or more emergency episodes occurred. There were 1971 emergency episodes responded to by 1245 volunteers. The treatment arm (CPR-only versus CPR+AED) was not associated with the likelihood of volunteer participation in an episode. Likewise, the volunteers' age or sex did not affect response. Volunteers more likely to respond were supervisory/management or security personnel, non-minority participants, volunteers with previous CPR training, volunteers with previous experience in emergency care and those who passed the PAD CPR skills follow-up test. Volunteers who had a formal education beyond a high school level were less likely to respond.


CONCLUSIONS
Volunteers with previous emergency training and positions of responsibility in their facility had a greater likelihood of participation in medical emergencies in the PAD Trial.
Groh
William J
WJ
The Department of Medicine, Krannert Institute of Cardiology, Indiana University, 1800 N. Capitol Avenue, Room E406, Indianapolis, IN, USA. wgroh@iupui.edu
Birnbaum
Alice
A
Barry
Anne
A
Anton
Andy
A
Mann
N Clay
NC
Peberdy
Mary A
MA
Vijayaraghavan
Kris
K
Powell
Judy
J
Mosesso
Vincent N
VN
D000328:Adult; D002170:Canada; D016887:Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation / Q000193:education; D003153:Community Health Services; D047548:Defibrillators; D004521:Educational Measurement; D004554:Electric Countershock / Q000295:instrumentation; D004632:Emergency Medical Services / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D006323:Heart Arrest / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011446:Prospective Studies; D017150:Public Sector; D014481:United States; D014838:Volunteers / Q000193:education / Q000523:psychology