National Study Finds Public AEDs Beneficial to Cardiac Arrest Patients
Health Alliance Physician, Dr. Jonathan VanZile, Led Local Trial
Contact: Patty Holiday (513) 585-7200
Date: 03/08/2004
Automated external defibrillators (AEDs) placed in public locations have been proven effective in increasing survival rates of people who have out-of-hospital cardiac arrests, according to a national study called the Public Access Defibrillation (PAD) Trial. Sponsored by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, the PAD Trial was led locally by Jonathan Van Zile, M.D., emergency medicine physician at The University Hospital and The Jewish Hospital. AEDs are devices that identify the heart rhythm of a cardiac arrest victim, and when necessary, deliver an electric shock that may correct an abnormal rhythm.
Greater Cincinnati physicians and community members participated in the trial, which also involved 21 centers across the United States, three centers in Canada, and about 20,000 community volunteers nationwide.
All of the volunteers in the PAD trial received cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) training, and half of the volunteers also received access to and training in the use of AEDs.
Of the 292 attempted resuscitations that occurred in the one-year study period, 44 of the cardiac arrest victims survived. Of these survivors, 15 had been treated by the volunteers trained in CPR alone, while 29 had been treated by volunteers trained in both CPR and AED use. This difference is statistically significant (p = 0.042).
"The AEDs are extremely safe for community members to use," said Dr. Van Zile. "The device analyzes the victim's heartbeat and only allows the user to deliver the shock if the heart rhythm is irregular and the shock is needed."
Serious adverse effects were rarely reported during the PAD trial. No volunteers received inadvertent shocks, and no patients were shocked unnecessarily.
AEDs are already being used at some facilities. For example, The Jewish Hospital supports the AED devices at the Kenwood Towne Centre. The devices have also been available on most commercial aircrafts for several years because response from outside emergency medical response is often impossible.
Other institutions supporting this trial include the American Heart Association; Medtronic, Inc.; Guidant Corporation; Laerdal; Cardiac Science/Survivalink; and Phillips Medical Systems.
The Health Alliance is an integrated health care delivery system that includes The Christ Hospital, The University Hospital, The St. Luke Hospitals, The Jewish Hospital, The Fort Hamilton Hospital and the physicians of Alliance Primary Care. To view other Health Alliance news releases, go to www.health-alliance.com/pressroom.
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