Home › Forums › Other Specialities › Cardiothoracic Medicine & Surgery › Use of Defibrillators by the Public
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December 21, 2023 at 1:43 pm #1370AnonymousInactive
Resuscitation following a cardiac arrest has improved significantly over the years. Many among the public in the western countries seem to know the basics of CPR. This is mainly because of the publicity given by the governments and the health service. In the recent past the public are being made aware of the defibrillator and how it should be used when they are trying to resuscitate someone after an arrest. The defibrillators are now available in many public places. Most of the larger department stores have one on standby for use in an emergency.
Today’s paper reports that more Londoners than ever are trying to save cardiac arrest sufferers but most fail to find and use a defibrillator.
A total of 2,329 “good Samaritans” attempted to resuscitate patients with CPR in the 12 months to March 2017 — up 62 on the year before.
Defibrillators were used on only 86 patients, two fewer than during the previous year – despite the London Ambulance Service’s Shockingly Easy campaign to increase numbers of public machines and promote their use.
Almost 3,000 devices are in shops, stations and gyms. Paul Gates, an LAS consultant paramedic, said: “When a member of the public uses a defib, the survival rate is 54 per cent. Without that, the cardiac arrest survival rate is 9.5 per cent.
“We would urge people to learn CPR and how to use a defib. They can be used with little or no medical training… by using a defib, so many lives could be saved.”
The LAS annual report on cardiac arrests revealed that paramedics attended 10,430 patients suffering an out-of-hospital arrest, and attempted to resuscitate 4,448. Of these, 1,307, or 29.4 per cent, were resuscitated and alive on arrival at hospital. A total of 415 patients, or 9.5 per cent, were discharged alive from hospital — a 0.5 per cent increase over two years.
Of the 606 patients whose heart was in a “shockable rhythm” and who were treated with a defibrillator, 54.5 per cent were still breathing on arrival at hospital, with 172 discharged alive.
A study published last month by the University of Warwick — in collaboration with St Mary’s hospital, Paddington, and the LAS — suggested that people were reluctant to use defibrillators, often because they did not know where to find them or how to use them. There have also been concerns about their safety. However, the LAS, which offers public CPR and defibrillator training courses, insists the devices are not harmful.
The LAS report revealed that cardiac arrest victims were almost twice as likely to be men. Their average age was 62. The most common time for an arrest was a Friday morning in January.
St Bartholomew’s hospital, in Smithfield, had the highest survival rate at 57.8 per cent, followed by Hammersmith hospital on 52.1 per cent and the Royal Free, in Hampstead, on 47.7 per cent.
I have often wondered if the defibrillators are available in public places like the airport and railway stations in India. This is where arrests can happen after a long flight or travel.
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