The Daily Yomiuri (Tokyo)
Copyright 2006 The Yomiuri Shimbun
All Rights Reserved
Yomiuri, Japan — The one-month survival rate for people who were given electric shocks via automated external defibrillators (AEDs) to revive them after cardiac arrests is five times greater than for those who received no such treatment, according to the findings of a survey conducted by the Fire and Disaster Management Agency.
Last year, 4,799 victims of heart attacks and other cardiopulmonary arrests received AED treatment from paramedics or people on the scene. Their survival rate after one month was 17.5 percent.
By comparison, the one-month survival rate for 13,881 victims who did not receive electric shock treatment was only 3.5 percent.
Likewise, the survival rate for people who received first aid from bystanders, such as cardiac compression or cardiopulmonary resuscitation, was 1.4 times that of those who did not receive immediate first aid.
The one-month survival rate when paramedics took action within three minutes of attending a person suffering a cardiac event was 11 percent, falling to 4.5 percent when treatment after 10 minutes of a heart attack.
The findings are based on ambulance transportation data for 2005, the first nationwide study on the use of ADFs.