Prehospital emergency care : official journal of the National Association of EMS Physicians and the National Association of State EMS Directors
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Automated External Defibrillator Geolocalization with a Mobile Application, Verbal Assistance or No Assistance: A Pilot Randomized Simulation (AED G-MAP).
Shockable rythms are common among victims of witnessed public out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA), but bystander defibrillation with a public automated external defibrillator (PAED) is rare. Instructions from the emergency medical dispatcher and mobile applications were developed to expedite the localization of PAEDs, but their effectiveness has not been compared. ⋯ In a simulated environment, verbally providing OHCA bystanders with the nearest PAED's location appeared to be effective in reducing the time to defibrillation in comparison to no assistance and to an AED geolocalizing mobile app, but further research is required to confirm this hypothesis, ascertain the external validity of these results, and evaluate the real-life implications of these strategies.