TY - JOUR
T1 - The automated external defibrillator
T2 - Heterogeneity of legislation, mapping and use across europe. new insights from the ensure study
AU - Baldi, Enrico
AU - Grieco, Niccolò B.
AU - Ristagno, Giuseppe
AU - Alihodžić, Hajriz
AU - Canon, Valentine
AU - Birkun, Alexei
AU - Cresta, Ruggero
AU - Cimpoesu, Diana
AU - Clarens, Carlo
AU - Ganter, Julian
AU - Markota, Andrej
AU - Mols, Pierre
AU - Nikolaidou, Olympia
AU - Quinn, Martin
AU - Raffay, Violetta
AU - Ortiz, Fernando Rosell
AU - Salo, Ari
AU - Stieglis, Remy
AU - Strömsöe, Anneli
AU - Tjelmeland, Ingvild
AU - Trenkler, Stefan
AU - Wnent, Jan
AU - Grasner, Jan-Thorsten
AU - Böttiger, Bernd W.
AU - Savastano, Simone
N1 - Funding Information: Funding: This research received no external funding. The publication fee was covered by Italian Resuscitation Council with funds for dissemination within the “iProcureSecurity” H2020 project (Grant Agreement No 833291). Funding Information: We performed a survey across Europe entitled “European Study About AED Use by Lay Rescuers” (ENSURE) asking primarily the 29 national coordinators of the European Registry of Cardiac Arrest (EuReCa) [20] program to fill in the questionnaire, referring to the EuReCa TWO period (October 2017–December 2017). The study was endorsed by the European Resuscitation Council (ERC) Research NET and by the Italian Resuscitation Council (IRC). Publisher Copyright: © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
PY - 2021/11/1
Y1 - 2021/11/1
N2 - Introduction: The rapid use of an automated external defibrillator (AED) is crucial for increased survival after an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA). Many factors could play a role in limiting the chance of an AED use. We aimed to verify the situation regarding AED legislation, the AED mapping system and first responders (FRs) equipped with an AED across European countries. Methods: We performed a survey across Europe entitled “European Study about AED Use by Lay Rescuers” (ENSURE), asking the national coordinators of the European Registry of Cardiac Arrest (EuReCa) program to complete it. Results: Nineteen European countries replied to the survey re-quest for a population covering 128,297,955 inhabitants. The results revealed that every citizen can use an AED in 15 countries whereas a training certificate was required in three countries. In one country, only EMS personnel were allowed to use an AED. An AED mapping system and FRs equipped with an AED were available in only 11 countries. The AED use rate was 12–59% where AED mapping and FR systems were implemented, which was considerably higher than in other countries (0–7.9%), reflecting the difference in OHCA survival. Conclusions: Our survey highlighted a heterogeneity in AED legislation, AED mapping systems and AED use in Europe, which was re-flected in different AED use and survival.
AB - Introduction: The rapid use of an automated external defibrillator (AED) is crucial for increased survival after an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA). Many factors could play a role in limiting the chance of an AED use. We aimed to verify the situation regarding AED legislation, the AED mapping system and first responders (FRs) equipped with an AED across European countries. Methods: We performed a survey across Europe entitled “European Study about AED Use by Lay Rescuers” (ENSURE), asking the national coordinators of the European Registry of Cardiac Arrest (EuReCa) program to complete it. Results: Nineteen European countries replied to the survey re-quest for a population covering 128,297,955 inhabitants. The results revealed that every citizen can use an AED in 15 countries whereas a training certificate was required in three countries. In one country, only EMS personnel were allowed to use an AED. An AED mapping system and FRs equipped with an AED were available in only 11 countries. The AED use rate was 12–59% where AED mapping and FR systems were implemented, which was considerably higher than in other countries (0–7.9%), reflecting the difference in OHCA survival. Conclusions: Our survey highlighted a heterogeneity in AED legislation, AED mapping systems and AED use in Europe, which was re-flected in different AED use and survival.
KW - Automated external defibrillator (AED) system
KW - First responders
KW - Legislation
KW - Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA)
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85117889848&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm10215018
DO - https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm10215018
M3 - Article
C2 - 34768537
SN - 2077-0383
VL - 10
JO - Journal of clinical medicine
JF - Journal of clinical medicine
IS - 21
M1 - 5018
ER -