A public access defibrillation programme in non-inpatient hospital areas

SummaryIntroductionAutomatic external defibrillators (AED) have proven to be valuable and life saving for out of hospital cardiac arrests. Their use in hospital arrests is less well documented, but they offer the opportunity to improve survival in the hospital setting also.MethodsThe implementation of a public access defibrillation (PAD) programme at a tertiary care hospital is described, with reference specifically to targeting areas where time from arrest to arrival of defibrillation would be greater than 3 min.ResultsNine AEDs were placed in areas of the hospital distant from inpatient or outpatient floors. The locations of the AEDs were chosen based on a 3 min walk from currently available defibrillators to all areas of the hospital, including parking garages and walkways from building to building. In this programme AED use in non-inpatient hospital locations resulted in the resuscitation of a patient in ventricular fibrillation.ConclusionPAD in non-inpatient hospital settings can be life saving and similar programmes should be considered for other hospitals.