[Is early defibrillation in the emergency-first aid call system useful?]

In a model study, 115 firemen and ambulance emergency personnel were trained in a 12-hour course to use conventional defibrillators prior to the arrival of an emergency care physician for treating patients with ventricular fibrillation. Subsequently, 178 firemen were trained in a 6-hour course to use semi-automatic defibrillators. A total of 252 resuscitations were evaluated with the help of tape recordings. The survival rate of 124 patients with ventricular fibrillation was statistically significantly higher after defibrillation by ambulance personnel if the emergency physician arrived in less than 14 minutes after the emergency call. A group of 109 patients who underwent only cardiopulmonary resuscitation until the arrival of the emergency physician served as a control.