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Fewer than one-third of state police agencies equip vehicles with AEDs

Issue: January 2012

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Only 30% of state police agencies in the United States that responded to a survey equip police vehicles with automated external defibrillators, according to a recent study.

According to researchers at the University of Pennsylvania, state police officers are ideal cardiac arrest first responders because they cover vast networks of US highways.

Police agencies in all 50 states were asked to complete an online survey about their AED use. Forty-six of 50 agencies completed the survey.

Fourteen of the 46 agencies reported having police vehicles that are equipped with AEDs. Eight of the 14 agencies (57%) that use AEDs equip only a minority of their fleets with the devices.

In addition, 35 of the 46 agencies (78%) reported training their officers in AED use and 44 of the 46 (98%) reported training their officers in CPR.

Increasing AED deployment among state police may represent an important opportunity to improve first responder care for cardiac arrest, Benjamin S. Abella, MD, MPhil, clinical research director, Center for Resuscitation Science, University of Pennsylvania, said in a press release.

For more information:

• Hirsh LM. Abstract #10721. Presented at: American Heart Association Scientific Sessions 2011; Nov. 12-16, 2011; Orlando, Fla.

Disclosure: Dr. Abella reported significant research grants from the NIH NHLBI, Philips Healthcare, Doris Duke Foundation, AHA and Medtronic Foundation, and significant honoraria from Medivance and Philips Healthcare.

[State police officers] need to want to participate in being first responders and delivering medical care. We tried this in Indiana without success. Our results of the Police As Responder Automated Defibrillation Evaluation (PARADE) study were published in Academic Emergency Medicine in 2001 (Groh WJ. Acad Emerg Med. 2011;8:324-330).

– Douglas P. Zipes, MD
Cardiology Today Section Editor

Disclosure: Dr. Zipes reports no relevant financial disclosures.

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