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  • Title: Radius of Care in Secondary Schools in the Midwest: Are Automated External Defibrillators Sufficiently Accessible to Enable Optimal Patient Care?
    Author: Osterman M, Claiborne T, Liberi V.
    Journal: J Athl Train; 2018 Apr; 53(4):410-415. PubMed ID: 29693422.
    Abstract:
    CONTEXT:   Sudden cardiac arrest is the leading cause of death among young athletes. According to the American Heart Association, an automated external defibrillator (AED) should be available within a 1- to 1.5-minute brisk walk from the patient for the highest chance of survival. Secondary school personnel have reported a lack of understanding about the proper number and placement of AEDs for optimal patient care. OBJECTIVE:   To determine whether fixed AEDs were located within a 1- to 1.5-minute timeframe from any location on secondary school property (ie, radius of care). DESIGN:   Cross-sectional study. SETTING:   Public and private secondary schools in northwest Ohio and southeast Michigan. PATIENTS OR OTHER PARTICIPANTS:   Thirty schools (24 public, 6 private) volunteered. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S):   Global positioning system coordinates were used to survey the entire school properties and determine AED locations. From each AED location, the radius of care was calculated for 3 retrieval speeds: walking, jogging, and driving a utility vehicle. Data were analyzed to expose any property area that fell outside the radius of care. RESULTS:   Public schools (37.1% ± 11.0%) possessed more property outside the radius of care than did private schools (23.8% ± 8.0%; F1,28 = 8.35, P = .01). After accounting for retrieval speed, we still observed differences between school types when personnel would need to walk or jog to retrieve an AED ( F1.48,41.35 = 4.99, P = .02). The percentages of school property outside the radius of care for public and private schools were 72.6% and 56.3%, respectively, when walking and 34.4% and 12.2%, respectively, when jogging. Only 4.2% of the public and none of the private schools had property outside the radius of care when driving a utility vehicle. CONCLUSION:   Schools should strategically place AEDs to decrease the percentage of property area outside the radius of care. In some cases, placement in a centralized location that is publicly accessible may be more important than the overall number of AEDs on site.
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