Practicum Aims

1
Public Access Defibrillation Awareness Campaign
King County Emergency Medical ServicesApril F.
Wicks, Department of Epidemiology, School of
Public Health, University of Washington Site
Supervisor Thomas D. Rea, MD MPH ? Faculty
Advisor Nicholas L. Smith, PhD
Interview Results 398 CA Events Identified 206
Unique CA Public Locations Identified 79
Locations have AEDs 44 With registered AEDs 35
With unregistered AEDs 89 Locations dont have an
AED 53 Requested more information 27 Not
interested in more information 9 Unknown 31
Locations contacted, not interviewed 7
Locations unable to contact
Background Cardiac arrest (CA) occurs when the
heart stops functioning and a person looses
consciousness. The American Heart Association
estimates that fewer than 5 of victims who
experience CA out of the hospital survive. A
coordinated set of actions termed Links in the
Chain of Survival can improve the chances of
recovery from CA. Defibrillation is an
important link in the Chain of Survival. The
sooner the heart is defibrillated with a device
such as an Automated External Defibrillator
(AED), which shocks the heart to restore a normal
heart rhythm, the better the outcome. Increased
public access to defibrillation (PAD) enables lay
person use of AEDs and can reduce delay between
CA and defibrillation.

• Specific Tasks
• Identify public high-risk sites for CA between
  2004-2008 within King County. High-risk sites
  were defined as public settings lacking an AED
  where a CA occurred within the last five years.
• Create a letter and telephone survey to promote
  the implementation and registration of AEDs for
  high-risk sites.
• Evaluate and track responses to the letters and
  surveys.

Conclusion Nearly 40 of public locations have
implemented a PAD Program since the CA.
Approximately 60 have not. Commonly sites
expressed cost, lack of training, and proximity
to EMS services as reasons preventing
implementation of PAD Programs. Often chain
businesses stated the decision required corporate
level approval. This project engaged an
important subset of locations which expressed
interest in learning more about PAD Programs.

• Future Directions
• Register unregistered PADs
• Follow-up with locations requesting
• additional information to encourage
• PAD implementation
• Target outreach to decision makers at the
  corporate level for chain businesses
• Design similar outreach campaigns for other
  high-risk sites

• Practicum Aims
• 1. Evaluate extent to which high-risk sites in
  King County are equipped with AEDs by reviewing
  the King County registry of CAs
• 2. Promote implementation and registration of
  AEDs with King County EMS for high-risk sites
• 3. Coordinate efforts between community PAD
  Programs and Public Health Seattle-King County

Funding This project was funded by King County
EMS and the Life Sciences Discovery Foundation