An automated external defibrillator
(AED) must be installed in all public places, such as temples, schools,
community centers, transportation hubs, tourist attractions, high schools,
universities, assembly sites, leisure areas that attract at least 3,000 people
a day, large shopping malls, hotels and hot spring areas.
Based on US and European studies, when
someone collapses suddenly, their chance of survival can climb to more than 50
percent if CPR is performed and an AED device is used in time.
The AED, a portable electronic device
can analyze the heart’s rhythm and, if necessary, deliver an electrical shock
to help the heart re-establish an effective rhythm. Bystanders should not
hesitate to perform CPR on people who suddenly collapse, and to try to acquire
an AED while calling for help.
Sudden cardiac arrest is a major public
health challenge and early defibrillation can improve survival among those with
a ventricular fibrillation (VF) or pulseless ventricular tachycardia (VT) arrest.
Successful early defibrillation using an AED, when appropriate, has been shown
to significantly improve survival and survival with intact neurologic function
following out-of-hospital cardiac arrest.
Nationwide dissemination of AEDs in
public places in Japan from 2005 through 2013 was associated with an increase
in the proportion of shocks for witnessed VF arrest administered by laypersons
with AEDs from 1.1 to 16.5 percent. As
public access defibrillation increased, mean time to shock was reduced (from
3.7 to 2.2 minutes), with a significant improvement in one month survival with
favorable neurologic function (38.5 percent compared with 18.2 percent) for
those who did not receive public access defibrillation. A
2018 report from Japan also noted increased survival and improved neurological
outcomes among school-aged patients receiving public access defibrillation.
Police AED programs may be the solution; police
officers can sometimes respond to cardiac arrest victims more quickly than
ambulance services.
A program of providing AEDs to police
officers and training them in their use was initially introduced in the late
1980s in Rochester, Minnesota. Police often arrived at cardiac arrest victims
due to ventricular fibrillation prior to medical help and defibrillated
patients an average of 5.5 minutes following collapse. Ten
of 14 patients survived to hospital discharge. In a later series of 193
patients, survival from witnessed ventricular fibrillation to hospital
discharge was 46 percent. Most were neurologically intact. In contrast,
survival from cardiac arrest not caused by ventricular fibrillation was only 5
percent.
Similarly,
implementation of police AED programs in Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania, Miami-Dade County, Florida, King County, Washington, and Zurich,
Switzerland, has also been associated with greater survival.
Resources:
Dr KK Aggarwal
Padma Shri
Awardee
President Confederation of Medical
Associations in Asia and Oceania (CMAAO)
Group
Editor-in-Chief IJCP Publications
President Heart
Care Foundation of India
Past National President
IMA
No comments:
Post a Comment