Community public access sites: compliance with American Heart Association recommendations.
BACKGROUND
Public access defibrillation (PAD) programs are a major goal of the American Heart Association (AHA) to ensure that automated external defibrillators and trained lay rescuers are available in public areas where sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) is likely to occur. The Johnson County Early Defibrillation Task Force (JCEDTF) is a volunteer organization which distributed AEDs throughout Johnson County, Iowa. JCEDTF was responsible for initial training but ongoing support was the responsibility of each site.


OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study was to evaluate compliance of community PAD sites to recommendations for site maintenance as proposed by the American Heart Association (AHA).


METHODS
Thirty-two surveys were distributed to community PAD sites that received assistance from JCEDTF. PAD sites were categorized into business, educational, or community sites. A twenty-five point scoring system to assess PDA programs was developed based on AHA recommendations. On-site evaluations were conducted to verify survey results and assess barriers to an effective PAD site. Differences among the three categories were measured with ANOVA.


RESULTS
No site was able to comply with all the AHA guidelines for a PAD site. The mean score among all sites was 57% of possible points with no significant differences among the three categories. Business sites were more compliant with ongoing training compared to educational and community sites (p<0.022).


CONCLUSIONS
Community PAD sites in Johnson County currently do not comply with the recommendations for effective PAD sites. After initial training and establishment of community PAD sites, better methods for assuring ongoing training and maintenance are needed for sites to be effective.
Haskell
Sarah E
SE
University of Iowa Children's Hospital, Carver College of Medicine, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242, USA.
Post
Michael
M
Cram
Peter
P
Atkins
Dianne L
DL
D022126:Access to Information; D000572:American Heart Association; D003153:Community Health Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003256:Community Participation / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D004554:Electric Countershock / Q000592:standards*; D019983:Guideline Adherence / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D017150:Public Sector / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States