Lay rescuer automated external defibrillator

In the early 1990s, the American Heart Association (AHA) launched the public health initiative, public access defibrillation [1,2]. The goal of this initia-tive was to improve the 6.7 % nationwide average survival rate of out-of-hospital sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) [3] in adults by placing automated external defibril-lators (AEDs) throughout communities and training lay rescuers in cardiopul-monary resuscitation (CPR) and the use of AEDs. Lay rescuer AED programs that were established in airports [4] and casinos [5] and by police officers [6–8] documented 49 % to 74 % survival rates from sudden witnessed ventricular fibril-lation (VF) cardiac arrest in adults. In recent years, the lay press has documented episodes of sudden death among young athletes, with several deaths caused by SCA. This stimulated grassroots support for the establishment of lay rescuer AED programs that are aimed at a younger population—primarily children and adolescents. Specific efforts have focused on establishment of these programs within schools. In January of 2004, the AHA introduced a new public health initiative, the Medical Emergency Response Plan for Schools [9]. This initiative is endorsed by several health and professional organizations, including the American Academ