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In-Field Comparison between Fully Automatic and Semi-Automatic Defibrillators

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 June 2012

Joseph J. Bocka  and
Robert Swor
Joseph J. Bocka*
Affiliation:
Attending in Emergency Medicine, William Beaumont Hospital, Royal Oak, Michigan, USA Attending in Emergency Medicine, William Beaumont Hospital, Troy, Michigan, USA
Robert Swor
Affiliation:
Attending in Emergency Medicine, William Beaumont Hospital, Royal Oak, Michigan, USA Clinical Instructor, Division of EHS, Department of Surgery, University of Michigan School of Medicine
*
Capital Emergency Associates, 575 Main St. Laurel, MD, 20707USA
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Abstract

The purpose of this clinical study was to compare the prehospital use of fully automatic defibrillators versus semi-automatic defibrillators.

Methods:

Fully and semi-automatic defibrillator use by EMTs in neighboring communities was compared.

Results:

Both programs had similar response times, age and gender distribution, proportion of witnessed arrests, and proportion of patients found initially with ventricular fibrillation (VF). The time-to-shock from proper lead placement was shorter when the fully automatic defibrillator was used (16.6 vs. 44.3 seconds; p<.001) and the survival to hospital discharge rate was greater (26% vs. 0%; p=.O4). The semi-automatic defibrillators were more sensitive in detecting VF than were the fully automatic devices.

Conclusions:

These data support the need for further comparison of the efficacy and effectiveness of semi- and fully automatic, external defibrillators.

Type
Original Research
Information
Prehospital and Disaster Medicine , Volume 6 , Issue 4 , December 1991 , pp. 415 - 420
Copyright
Copyright © World Association for Disaster and Emergency Medicine 1991

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