This Article  • Full text  • PDF  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Similar articles in JAMA  Topic Collections  • Pacemakers/ Defibrillators  • Emergency Medicine  • Cardiovascular Intervention  • Alert me on articles by topic

Mike Mitka

JAMA. 2003;290:3181-3183.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

Orlando, Fla—Time is a precious commodity for a person experiencing cardiac arrest.

In the majority of cases, cardiac arrest is caused by ventricular fibrillation, and survivability drops up to 10% for every minute that elapses until a normal heart rhythm is reestablished—which usually requires defibrillation.

Researchers are discovering better methods and techniques for treating people experiencing out-of-hospital cardiac arrests. (Photo credit: Photodisc)

With the overall survival rate in the United States for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest at around 5%, emergency medicine researchers are hopeful that automated external defibrillators (AEDs) can improve outcomes for a condition claiming hundreds of lives daily. The thinking behind AEDs as a means of boosting survival is that they can be placed throughout the community and be used quickly by lay persons.

Preliminary data suggest AEDs may be fulfilling their promise. But at the same time, other findings are showing that there is room . . . [Full Text of this Article]