A Critic's Assessment of Our Approach to Cardiac Arrest

In this issue of the Journal , Weisfeldt et al. 1 report that ventricular fibrillation is identified less frequently during sudden cardiac arrest in the home than in public places, even when the arrest is witnessed. The authors surmise that age and coexisting illnesses are responsible and that the location of sudden cardiac arrest may be a surrogate for underlying disease severity. In addition, poorer outcomes were observed with use of the automated external defibrillator (AED) in the home, as compared with public AED use. The authors conclude that perhaps AEDs should be reserved for public locations and cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) . . .