Public access defibrillators

doi:10.1136/bmj.326.7381.162

BMJ 2003;326:162 ( 18 January )

Letters

Public access defibrillators

Potential efficacy of public access defibrillation may be underestimated

Defibrillators in public places save lives

Authors' reply

Fire extinguisher model of public access defibrillation is unlikely to prevent many deaths

Data from Cuba

Potential efficacy of public access defibrillation may be underestimated

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

EDITOR $---$ Pell et al provide useful data on the appropriate location of public access defibrillators.¹ Not all of their conclusions,however, seem to be based on firmevidence.

They say that arrests that occur in obvious sites for locating defibrillators already have the shortest response times, yetonly 340 out of 2646 (13%) patients in a suitable site receivedan ambulance within 3 minutes. Response time is not defined: adetail important in allowing valid comparison with other earlydefibrillationstrategies.

The Department of Health defines this interval as starting when a chief complaint is identified by an ambulance dispatcherand ending when an ambulance stops at the scene. The time takenfor a bystander to determine that action is needed and make a999 call, as well as the time taken by the crew to reach the patient'sside and deliver a counter-shock, areexcluded.

The complete interval from collapse to first . . . [Full text of this article]

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