Use of automated external defibrillators (AEDs) in managing risk and liability in health/fitness facilities

Incidence, bystander emergency response management and outcomes of out‐of‐hospital cardiac arrest at exercise and sport facilities in Australia

“…An AED is a portable medical device designed to be safely used by a non‐medically trained first responder. It automatically checks for the heart rhythm of a patient and prompts the rescuer to initiate shock or apply CPR as necessary through audio‐visual feedback 14 . Furthermore, an advanced AED equipped with sensory accelerometer technology can capture the rate and depth of each chest compression and assist a rescuer to deliver effective CPR.…”

“…13 Following from the publication of the Cardiac Arrest Survival Act 2000 as a federal law, many states in the USA have passed legislation that mandates AEDs at public locations, including schools and certain health/fitness facilities. 14 In Australia there are currently no laws or industry standards that require AEDs at public locations. 14 In 2012, St John Ambulance Australia, the Australian Resuscitation Council and the National Heart Foundation of Australia jointly called on the federal, state and territory governments to increase the number of AEDs in places where large amounts of people visit, including fitness facilities and sport venues.…”

“…14 In Australia there are currently no laws or industry standards that require AEDs at public locations. 14 In 2012, St John Ambulance Australia, the Australian Resuscitation Council and the National Heart Foundation of Australia jointly called on the federal, state and territory governments to increase the number of AEDs in places where large amounts of people visit, including fitness facilities and sport venues. 15 Knowledge on the incidence of OHCA is crucial for evidence informed policy for placement of AEDs at public places.…”

“…In the USA, recommendations have been published for health/fitness facilities to install AEDs where a probability of one OHCA event occurring every 5 years was considered to be a high risk 13 . Following from the publication of the Cardiac Arrest Survival Act 2000 as a federal law, many states in the USA have passed legislation that mandates AEDs at public locations, including schools and certain health/fitness facilities 14 …”

Emergency preparedness in fitness facilities: bridging the gap between policy and practice

“…A limitation of this study was that the AFIRM-OAT did not include questions specifically about cardiac emergency preparedness including utilisation of AEDs in fitness facilities. This was mainly because there are currently no laws or regulations in Australia mandating utilisation of AEDs in fitness facilities (Sekendiz and Quick, 2011). However, prompted by a Queensland-based study that showed a lack of utilisation of AEDs in fitness facilities increasingly used by clients at higher risk of exercise induced cardiovascular events (Sekendiz, 2014;Sekendiz et al, 2014a), industry major organisations have recommended that fitness facilities and professionals carefully conduct their risk assessments in order to identify their need to install AEDs, which can also protect them against the risk of legal liability by adhering to highest professional standard of practice (Fitness Australia, 2015b;Lyndonn, 2015).…”