Home Use of Automatic External Defibrillators to Treat Sudden Cardiac Arrest

BACKGROUND:

Sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) occurs every two minutes throughout the United States, with more
than 70 percent occuring at home. Because survival falls 10 percent per minute over the first
ten minutes, it is imperative to defibrillate as soon as possible. Public efforts cannot
provide defibrillation fast enough in most cases. Physicians believe the initial shock is
best done using readily available AEDs by family members who are only seconds from their
loved one.

DESIGN NARRATIVE:

This study tests the central hypothesis that providing an AED for home use will improve
survival beyond that achieved from the typical response to sudden cardiac arrest. An
estimated 7,000 people who have had an anterior myocardial infarction will be randomly
assigned to one of two groups: 1) a standard response to sudden cardiac arrest, entailing
calling an emergency medical service (EMS) system and performing CPR, or 2) the addition of a
home AED to the standard response. The standard response will be augmented and standardized
by the provision of a video on how to respond to sudden cardiac arrest and how to perform
CPR. The goal for the standard response will be immediate notification of EMS and prompt CPR.
The goal for the AED group will be to shock the cardiac arrest victim up to three times
immediately, if indicated by the AED, and call EMS and perform CPR as soon as possible and
preferably within two minutes of collapse. Participants will be enrolled for more than two
years and followed for an additional two years. The study will be performed at 200 cardiology
clinics.

Inclusion Criteria:

- History of anterior myocardial infarction

- Live-in spouse or companion willing to administer CPR or AED therapy plus CPR

Exclusion Criteria:

- Existing implantable cardiac defibrillator or AED

- Current candidate for an implantable cardiac defibrillator

- Current "Do Not Resuscitate" orders