Defibrillators in Airports Used Effectively

A two-year prospective study of three airports found that defibrillators installed in the passenger terminals were used effectively by random bystanders, many of them with no defibrillator training, to assist patients with cardiac arrest.

Defibrillators were installed a 60-to-90-second walk apart throughout passenger terminals at three Chicago (IL, USA) airports serving more than 100 million passengers a year. The use of defibrillators was promoted by public-service videos in waiting areas, pamphlets, and reports in the media. The researchers assessed the time from notification of the dispatchers to defibrillation, survival rate at 72 hours and at one year among persons with cardiac arrest, their neurologic status, and the characteristics of the rescuers.

Over a two-year period, 21 persons had nontraumatic cardiac arrest, 18 of whom had ventricular fibrillation. With two exceptions, defibrillator operators were bystanders who acted voluntarily. In the case of four patients with ventricular fibrillation, defibrillators were neither nearby nor used within five minutes, and none of these patients survived. Three others remained in fibrillation and eventually died, despite the rapid use of a defibrillator (within five minutes).

However, 11 patients with ventricular fibrillation were successfully resuscitated, including eight who regained consciousness before hospital admission. No shock was delivered in four cases of suspected cardiac arrest, and the device correctly indicated that the problem was not due to ventricular fibrillation. The rescuers of six of the 11 successfully resuscitated patients had no training or experience in the use of automated defibrillators, although three had medical degrees. Ten of the 18 patients with ventricular fibrillation were alive and neurologically intact at one year.

The study was conducted by researchers from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center (Dallas, USA), the University of Chicago, the City of Chicago Department of Aviation, and the Chicago Fire Department.




Related Links:
Univ. of Texas Southwestern Med. Center