Optimal placement of public-access AEDs in urban environments

•Mathematical Framework for AED placement.•Interactive visualization of results.•Multi-objective optimization tying actual delay time to reach AED, cost and density.•Application implemented with real data set.

Use of public-access Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) is showing promising results in decreasing collapse-to-shock times among Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA) patients which is associated with improved patient outcomes. Bystander access to these medical devices ensure that the necessary care to victims of SCA is provided prior to arrival of emergency responders. Prior studies have suggested methods for deploying AEDs for public use by implementing mathematical optimization based on historic incidences of SCA. The purpose of this study is to improve upon these studies by developing a novel method for generating placement plans in urban environments. The novelty of this study is: (1) the use of route-based walking time instead of straight-line approximations; (2) introduction of temporal availability in deployed devices to account for location hours-of-operation; (3) use of a multi-objective optimization to balance decision-maker objectives; and (4) the implementation of an interactive decision-maker tool for observing effects on benefits and costs. The approach is deployed and evaluated for a case study in the city of Hoboken, New Jersey. This case study is simulated with a resulting average decrease of time-to-retrieve by 98.06 s indicating an estimated 11.44–16.30% survival probability improvement using our optimization technique compared to a baseline optimization.