FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTONS

Frequently Asked Questions
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Presented in part with the support of Novartis Pharmaceuticals and Boston Scientific / Guidant

Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation CPR Statistics

Automatic external defibrillators (A.E.D.s)

AED programs equip conventional ambulances with automated external defibrillators . It's estimated that only 30 percent of emergency medical systems (E.M.S.) in the United States have put AED programs in place.

According to a recent study, the AEDs now in use are 90 percent sensitive for ventricular fibrillation and 90-95 percent specific for other heart rhythms.

The first out-of-hospital defibrillation device weighed 110 lbs.; today they weigh less than 10 lbs.

Increased survival with AEDs

In cities where CPR training is widespread and EMS response is rapid, the survival rate increased from 9 percent to 30 percent when AEDs were available to first responders.

In cities in which EMS response times are prolonged because of traffic congestion and high-rise buildings (and in which bystander CPR is infrequent), longer-term survival outcome is 1-2 percent.

Recently a Rochester, Minnesota, study showed remarkable survival rates when police vehicles were equipped with automated external defibrillators. Twenty-one of 44 persons with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest were long-time survivors. Of these 44 victims, 14 had initial defibrillation by the police force. Of these 14, 10 survived and were discharged. The overall survival rate of 21 of 44 victims can be compared with the survival rate in New York, where 26 of 2,329 victims survived.

Introduction

There are no reliable national statistics on CPR because no single agency collects information about how many people get CPR, how many don't get it who need it, how many people are trained, etc. Many studies have been done examining CPR in specific communities. While they show varying rates of success, all are consistent in showing benefits from early CPR. The following statements are fair generalizations:

Right now early CPR and rapid defibrillation combined with early advanced care can result in long-term survival rates for witnessed ventricular fibrillation as high as 40 percent.
The value of early CPR by bystanders is that it can buy time by prolonging life during ventricular fibrillation. Early bystander CPR is less helpful if EMS personnel equipped with a defibrillator arrive later than 8-12 minutes after the collapse.

Sudden cardiac death (S.C.D.)

Sudden cardiac death occurs over 600 times per day in the United States.

Sudden cardiac death in people less than 21 years old is one-tenth as common as in adults, occurring in only 1 to 2 per 100,000 children per year.

A review was done of published studies that report initial heart rhythms during cardiac arrest in children. It indicates that the majority (40-90 percent) have asystole or pulseless electrical activity when first evaluated. However, ventricular fibrillation or ventricular tachycardia is found in up to 23 percent.

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Cardiology Associates of Fort Lauderdale, P.A.
4725 N. Federal Hwy, Suite #401
The Jim Moran Heart and Vascular Center
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33308
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