Death in correctional facilities: Opportunities for automated external defibrillation

Summary Background Death due to cardiovascular disease occurs more frequently in prisons than the national average. Due to close surveillance 24 h/day, the ability to reach the patient within 3 min and time consuming access for the EMS crews, it was hypothesised that the deployment of automated exte...

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Veröffentlicht in:Resuscitation 2007-06, Vol.73 (3), p.389-393
Hauptverfasser: Roessler, B, Fleischhackl, R, Fleischhackl, S, Singer, F, Mittlboeck, M, Fachberger, J, Malzer, R, Koller, A, Lang, G, Foitik, G, Hoerauf, K
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Sprache:eng
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Zusammenfassung:Summary Background Death due to cardiovascular disease occurs more frequently in prisons than the national average. Due to close surveillance 24 h/day, the ability to reach the patient within 3 min and time consuming access for the EMS crews, it was hypothesised that the deployment of automated external defibrillators (AEDs) might make improvements regarding Call-to-the-First-AED-Prompt (CTP) interval and formed the aim of this study. Methods Our investigation was analysed on an intention to treat basis and conducted in a prospective, open and observational design. As the primary outcome, the CTP-intervals were compared to the arrival intervals of the EMS. As a secondary outcome, an analysis of all deceased inmates was described. Results The average daily population of inmates in Austrian correctional facilities is 7714. During a period of 13 months, 10 instances in which an AED was activated and electrodes attached to a collapsed inmate, were reported. The CTP-interval (median ± S.D.) was 2.3 ± 1.6 S.D. min. It took the EMS 10.0 ± 4.3 S.D. min. to arrive at the patient's side. Four out of 10 cases of cardiac arrest occurred due to myocardial infarction. Of 39 deceased inmates, a post mortem examination was completed in 34 cases. In 13 cases, cardiovascular disease was the cause of death. Discussion The main finding was a four-fold reduction of the CTP-interval. This fact indicates the potential improvements which could be achieved with the deployment of AEDs. Our secondary objective revealed that death due to cardiovascular disease was found in a high proportion and could be considered to be a strong incentive to initiate programmes to counter cardiovascular death in prison.
ISSN:0300-9572
1873-1570
DOI:10.1016/j.resuscitation.2005.12.017