Defibrillator access across Australia: the first step in avoiding a chain of fatality.

Keywords: Arrhythmias, cardiac; Defibrillator; Emergency treatment; Public policy EN Arrhythmias, cardiac Defibrillator Emergency treatment Public policy 146 148 3 08/22/23 20230801 NES 230801 There are about 20 000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests (OHCAs) in Australia each year.[1] This is almost 20 times the annual fatal road toll.[2] We know that governmental legislation on issues of public safety, such as mandating pool fences or smoke alarms to detect fires, has saved lives. Defibrillators last about seven years, with ultra-portable defibrillators lasting about one year.[14] It is concerning that one-fifth of PADs are non-functional when tested,[15] potentially wasting time and worsening outcomes in time-critical cardiac arrest management. It is estimated that there are 15 000 unregistered defibrillators in Victoria alone.[4] A national system of collaborative data sharing between all defibrillator registry stakeholders would allow optimal identification of all PADs that exist in Australia but are unavailable for public use. [Extracted from the article]