This study examined how easily people can realistically access public automated external defibrillators (AEDs) during out-of-hospital cardiac arrests in a large region of Korea, and how that access relates to survival outcomes. The researchers focused on “functional accessibility,” meaning whether someone could actually reach and use an AED quickly enough in a real emergency. They analyzed more than 39,000 cardiac arrests in Gyeonggi-do between 2021 and 2023, mapping each event to the nearest public AED and estimating walking time and distance.
Overall, the study found that while AEDs were often geographically close, they were rarely used by bystanders—only about 2.9% of resuscitation-attempted cases involved AED use. Shorter travel time to an AED was linked to both higher likelihood of AED use and better chances of the patient regaining a heartbeat before hospital arrival. However, access was much more limited in rural areas, at night, and in homes, where most cardiac arrests occurred; fewer than 2% of home arrests involved bystander defibrillation. Importantly, the findings underscore that 24/7 accessibility of AEDs is essential.
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SOURCE: Journal of the American Heart Association (JAHA).