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Automated external defibrillators and simulated in-hospital cardiac arrests

Joseph W Rossano1, Larry S Jefferson, E O'Brian Smith

  • 1Department of Pediatrics, Lillie Frank Abercrombie Section of Pediatric Cardiology, Baylor College of Medicine, Texas Children's Hospital, Houston, TX 77030, USA. jrossano@bcm.tmc.edu

The Journal of Pediatrics
|January 27, 2009
PubMed

Insights

Automated external defibrillators (AEDs) significantly reduce defibrillation time for pediatric residents during simulated cardiac arrests compared to manual defibrillators (MDs). This finding highlights AEDs

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric Emergency Medicine
  • Cardiology
  • Medical Device Technology

Background:

  • Timely defibrillation is critical for improving outcomes in pediatric cardiac arrest.
  • Automated external defibrillators (AEDs) offer a potentially faster alternative to manual defibrillators (MDs).

Purpose of the Study:

  • To compare the time to attempted defibrillation between pediatric residents using AEDs versus MDs in a simulated in-hospital cardiac arrest scenario.

Main Methods:

  • Prospective, randomized, controlled trial involving pediatric residents responding to simulated ventricular fibrillation cardiac arrest.
  • Participants were randomized to use either an AED or an MD.
  • Primary endpoint was the time to attempted defibrillation.

Main Results:

  • Residents using AEDs had a significantly shorter time to attempted defibrillation (median 60 seconds) compared to those using MDs (median 103 seconds).
  • All residents in the AED group attempted defibrillation within 5 minutes, versus 77% in the MD group.

Conclusions:

  • AEDs significantly decrease the time to attempted defibrillation by pediatric residents in simulated pediatric cardiac arrests.
  • Further research is warranted to define the role of AEDs in actual pediatric in-hospital cardiac arrest management.
Abstract

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