The introduction of public access defibrillation to a university community: The University of Virginia public access defibrillation program

摘要

We undertook the addition of a public access defibrilla-tion (PAD) program at a large mid-Atlantic university. In our design of the system, we found little useful information to guide us in the development and construction our system. This letter addresses the issues and methodology of our approach to this important program.Despite decades of research, education, and the flourishing of a vast array of treatment options, cardiovascular disease in its many variations continues to be the most common cause of death in the United States [1]. One particularly troubling aspect of cardiovascular disease is sudden death resulting from cardiovascular events; in fact, 75% of sudden death events are related to cardiac etiologies [2]. Of course, emergency medical services- and hospital-based strategies of management are of import, but we must also consider the treatment that can, and should, be provided before the arrival of professional medical care. This treatment includes cardiopulmonary resuscitation and electrical defibrillation of the "shockable" cardiac arrest rhythms.