Automated external defibrillator use in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest: Current limitations and solutions.

Out-of-hospital sudden cardiac arrest (OHCA) is a major public health issue, with a survival rate at hospital discharge that remains below 10% in most cities, despite huge investments in this domain. Early basic life support (BLS) and early defibrillation using automated external defibrillators (AEDs) stand as key elements for improving OHCA survival rate. Nevertheless, the use of AEDs in OHCA remains low, for a variety of reasons, including the number, accessibility and ease of locating AEDs, as well as bystanders' awareness of BLS manœuvres and of the need to use AEDs.

Major regional differences in Automated External Defibrillator placement and Basic Life Support training in France: Further needs for coordinated implementation.

Background: Public Access Defibrillation (PAD) programs have emerged since mid-1990s with the aim of improving survival from Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest (OHCA). The extent to which their implementation in the community differs among different areas has not been evaluated.

Methods: We carried out a 5-year prospective national evaluation of PAD programs in 51 French districts (29.

Survival from sports-related sudden cardiac arrest: In sports facilities versus outside of sports facilities.

Background: We sought to evaluate frequency, characteristics, and outcomes of sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) during sports activities according to the location of occurrence (in sports facilities vs those occurring outside of sports facilities).

Methods And Results: This is an observational 5-year prospective national French survey of subjects 10 to 75 years old presenting with SCA during sports (2005-2010), in 60 French administrative regions (covering a population of 35 million people). Of the 820 SCA during sports, 426 SCAs (52%) occurred in sports facilities.

Characteristics and outcomes of sudden cardiac arrest during sports in women.

Background: No specific data are available on characteristics and outcome of sudden cardiac death (SCD) during sport activities among women in the general population.

Methods And Results: From a prospective 5-year national survey, involving 820 subjects 10 to 75 years old who presented with SCD (resuscitated or not) during competitive or recreational sport activities, 43 (5.2%) such events occurred in women, principally during jogging, cycling, and swimming.

Major regional disparities in outcomes after sudden cardiac arrest during sports.

Aims: Characteristics of sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) during sports offers a novel (and unexplored) setting to assess factors associated with disparities in outcomes across regions.

Methods And Results: From a prospective 5-year community-based French registry concerning SCA during sports in 10-75 year-olds, we evaluated whether outcomes differed significantly between geographic regions. We then determined the extent to which variations in community-related early interventions were associated with regional variations in survival.

Sports-related sudden death in the general population.

Background: Although such data are available for young competitive athletes, the prevalence, characteristics, and outcome of sports-related sudden death have not been assessed previously in the general population.

Methods And Results: A prospective and comprehensive national survey was performed throughout France from 2005 to 2010, involving subjects 10 to 75 years of age. Case detection for sports-related sudden death, including resuscitated cardiac arrest, was undertaken via national ambulance service reporting and Web-based screening of media releases.