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Monday, 26 December 2005 11:02

BNN: British Nursing News Online · www.bnn-online.co.uk

Public defibrillators could save lives

An American and Italian research team claim that by putting electric shock machines in public places to treat cardiac arrest victims saves lives.

The teams analysed data from Brescia before and after machines were place in the community, they found that the one-year survival rate trebled to three in 100 patients.

Defibrillators have been placed in shopping centres, railway stations and airports in the UK in recent years to be used by trained volunteers.

The researchers, from Milan, Brescia and Washington universities, also said the study proved that defibrillators could easily and safely be operated by lay people.

And they concluded that if the response time for using defibrillators was shortened to within eight minutes, it would save the lives of 15 out of 100 people who collapse with cardiac arrest.

Lead researcher Riccardo Cappato said: "There was an increase in survival for patients in both urban and rural areas, although it was significantly larger in the city than the countryside due to the shorter response time and larger number of defibrillators available”.

Colin Elding, medical spokesman for the British Heart Foundation, said: "Modern defibrillators are becoming increasingly quick and easy for the lay person to use, which can mean the difference between life and death.

"Every second counts when someone's heart goes into cardiac arrest.

"An electric shock needs to be delivered to the chest as quickly as possible to restore the person's heart to a normal rhythm”.

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