Early defibrillation is a key step in the cardiac arrest chain of survival. Public Access AEDs may be available more readily than waiting for first responders. Outside of simple awareness of where AEDs are located, there are newer ways to become aware of public AEDs near a cardiac arrest including cell phone apps or information given by 911. A British study showed that only 5.9% of AEDs were within 100 meters of the patient and 35% were within 500 meters. The distance between the AED and arrest may be a barrier for bystander AED use. This study looked to determine the time required to retrieve an AED and they hypothesized that a distance > 400 meters would be longer than the EMS response times.
This study used 15 women and 15 men to perform different runs in various environments in different seasons, retrieving AEDs at 200m through 600m and bringing it back to the patient. In these scenarios, only the 200m distance (400 m round trip) times were deemed to allow enough time to apply and use the AED prior to EMS arrival. Barriers to AED retrieval included traffic lights, cars, weather and pedestrians.
References
Gramm ER, Gumucio JA, Flickinger K, Salcido DD, Menegazzi JJ. Improving Bystander Response: How Long Does It Take to Retrieve an AED From Varying Distances. Prehosp Emerg Care. 2025 Apr 1:1-5. doi: 10.1080/10903127.2025.2475323. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 40126392.
