Special considerations for defibrillation performed by emergency medical technicians in small communities

Defibrillation by minimally trained ambulance technicians can significantly improve survival after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest in communities of all sizes. However, special consideration must be given to the development of such services in small communities, chiefly because of problems associated with the low volume of true emergency calls. Communities considering implementing programs by which defibrillation is performed by the emergency medical technician (EMT-D) must first evaluate their ambulance response times and, if inadequate, alter their system of ambulance response. After implementation of such a program, a permanent, formal skill maintenance program must be established. Defibrillation protocols must allow for the fact that many patients will refibrillate after successful conversion, yet no advanced care beyond the defibrillator will generally be available. Finally, every community instituting an EMT-D program must maintain a system of monitoring EMT performance and patient outcome that documents acceptable survival-to-discharge rates as well as the safety of the program. For smaller communities a regional or statewide evaluation system may be preferable to individual community programs.