Study shows “out-of-hours” cardiac arrest leads to considerably diminished access to community AEDs

A new study from New Zealand, just published in the New Zealand Medical Journal, has revealed that automated external defibrillators (AEDs) in the community are, alarmingly, not “actually that accessible”. The study found there were only three devices in Hamilton that were available 24/7. But not everybody has a cardiac arrest during working hours—9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday—and defibrillators should be “like fire-extinguishers, readily available and accessible at all times”, Martin Stiles (Hamilton, New Zealand) tells Cardiac Rhythm News.

Stiles was interviewed at Venice Arrhythmias (2–4 October 2019, Venice, Italy).

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