Defibrillator treatment too late in 30% of hospital heart failure cases
Although you are hospitalized, chances are you could receive life saving defibrillator treatment too late to prevent permanent damage or death should your heart stop beating. According to a new study 2/3 of hospital patients did not recieve the life saving defibrillator shock within the most effective time frame of two minutes or less.
People who do not recieve fast defibrillation are at a higher risk of death or permanent brain damage, the study showed. This risk is increased with every minute of delay and thus worsens the patients’ chance of survival.
"It is probably fair to say that most patients assume, unfortunately, incorrectly that a hospital would be the best place to survive a cardiac arrest," Dr. Leslie A. Saxon, a cardiologist at the University of Southern California, wrote in an editorial in New England Journal of Medicine.
The study found that 39% of patients treated within two minutes benefitted the most from the treatments and were more likely to survive. The study also showed that the likelihood of survival was reduced to 22% for patients who received treatment beyond the recommended two minute time frame.
"We still have a lot to learn as to how to deliver treatment in an effective way," said lead author, Dr. Paul S. Chan of St. Luke's Mid America Heart Institute in Kansas City, Mo.
The study was compiled with data from a national registry of 369 hospitals that track response times and outcomes. It included 6,789 cases of cardiac arrest attributed to abnormal heart rhythm, considered most responsive to defibrillator treatment.
More than half of the patients received defibrillator treatment in one minute or less. The study also found that in 30% of the cases it took anywhere from 3 to 6 minutes to receive the shock.
The research showed that patients at smaller hospitals were more likely to experience delays. Other variables attributed to longer wait times included time and day as well as the patients ethnicity.
One potential way to speed up response times, Chan suggests speeding up defibrillator treatment response times by making automated external defibrillators, or AEDs, available throughout hospitals and giving greater access to nurses on staff
- Defibrillator most effective within two minutes of cardiac arrest.
- Higher risk of death or permanent brain damage after rwo minutes.
- Data compiled from 369 hospitals.
- Research shows smaller hospitals are more likely to experience delays.
