• K H Benjamin Leung, Steven C Brooks, Gareth R Clegg, and ChanTimothy C YTCYDepartment of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada; Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute, St. Michael's Hospital, Toronto, ON, Canada..
• Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada. Electronic address: benkh.leung@mail.utoronto.ca.
• Resuscitation. 2021 Sep 1; 166: 14-20.

BackgroundMathematical optimization can be used to place automated external defibrillators (AEDs) in locations that maximize coverage of out-of-hospital cardiac arrests (OHCAs). We sought to determine whether optimization can improve alignment between AED locations and OHCA counts across levels of socioeconomic deprivation.MethodsAll suspected OHCAs and registered AEDs in Scotland between Jan. 2011 and Sept. 2017 were included and mapped to a corresponding socioeconomic deprivation level using the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD). We used mathematical optimization to determine optimal locations for placing 10%, 25%, 50%, and 100% additional AEDs, as well as locations for relocating existing AEDs. For each AED placement policy, we examined the impact on AED distribution and OHCA "coverage" (suspected OHCA occurring within 100 m of AED) with respect to SIMD quintiles.ResultsWe identified 49,432 suspected OHCAs and 1532 AEDs. The distribution of existing AED locations across SIMD quintiles significantly differed from the distribution of suspected OHCAs (P < 0.001). Optimization-guided AED placement increased coverage of suspected OHCAs compared to existing AED locations (all P < 0.001). Optimization resulted in more AED placements and increased OHCA coverage in areas of greater socioeconomic deprivation, such that resulting distributions across SIMD quintiles matched the shape of the OHCA count distribution. Optimally relocating existing AEDs achieved similar OHCA coverage levels to that of doubling the number of total AEDs.ConclusionsMathematical optimization results in AED locations and suspected OHCA coverage that more closely resembles the suspected OHCA distribution and results in more equitable coverage across levels of socioeconomic deprivation.Copyright © 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

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