Defibrillators Available in More

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Study Finds Defibrillators Available in More High Schools Than Senior Centers

Life Science Weekly

A greater percentage of high schools had automated external defibrillators (AEDs) - devices that can be used to treat cardiac arrest victims - than senior centers, despite the fact that cardiac arrests appear more common in senior centers, according to a study by University of Iowa (UI) researchers.

The study, published in the October issue of the medical journal Prehospital Emergency Care, raises questions about how decisions are being made regarding which public locations merit these potentially lifesaving devices. The investigation was based on surveys of 147 high schools and 20 licensed senior centers in Iowa and California during the 2001-02 school year.

The investigators studied the issue because they noticed the press was reporting the frequent placement of AEDs in high schools, said Peter Cram, MD, assistant professor of internal medicine in the UI Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine and the study's corresponding author.

"It seemed counter-intuitive that defibrillators were being placed in high schools, where the population is relatively healthy and rates of cardiac arrest are low," Cram said. "We wanted to find out how common cardiac arrests were in high schools and how available defibrillators were."

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