Increasing cost-effectiveness of AEDs using algorithms to optimise location

Volunteer responder systems (VRSs) aim to decrease time to defibrillation by dispatching trained volunteers to automated external defibrillators (AEDs) and out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) victims. AEDs are often underutilized due to poor placement. This study provides a cost-effectiveness analysis of adding AEDs at strategic locations to maximize quality-adjusted life years (QALYs).

We simulated combined volunteer, police, firefighter, and emergency medical service response scenarios to OHCAs, and applied our methods to a case study of Amsterdam, the Netherlands. We compared the competing strategies of placing additional AEDs, using steps of 40 extra AEDs (0, 40, …, 1480), in addition to the existing 369 AEDs. Incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICERs) were calculated for each increase in additional AEDs, from a societal perspective. The effect of AED connection and time to connection on survival to hospital admission and neurological outcome at discharge was estimated using logistic regression, using OHCA data from Amsterdam from 2006 to 2018. Other model inputs were obtained from literature.

Purchasing up to 1120 additional AEDs (ICER €75,669/QALY) was cost-effective at a willingness-to-pay threshold of €80,000/QALY, when positioned strategically. Compared to current practice, adding 1120 AEDs resulted in a gain of 0.111 QALYs (95% CI 0.110-0.112) at an increased cost of €3792 per OHCA (95% CI €3778-€3807). Health benefits per AED diminished as more AEDs were added.

Our study identified cost-effective strategies to position AEDs at strategic locations in a VRS. The case study findings advocate for a substantial increase in the number of AEDs in Amsterdam.