Cardiac arrest at exercise facilities: implications for placement of automated external defibrillators.

Objectives: This study sought to characterize the relative frequency, care, and survival of sudden cardiac arrest in traditional indoor exercise facilities, alternative indoor exercise sites, and other indoor sites.

Background: Little is known about the relative frequency of sudden cardiac arrest at traditional indoor exercise facilities versus other indoor locations where people engage in exercise or about the survival at these sites in comparison with other indoor locations.

Methods: We examined every public indoor sudden cardiac arrest in Seattle and King County from 1996 to 2008 and categorized each event as occurring at a traditional exercise center, an alternative exercise site, or a public indoor location not used for exercise.