• Joseph W Rossano, Larry S Jefferson, E O'Brian Smith, Mark A Ward, and Antonio R Mott.
• Department of Pediatrics, Lillie Frank Abercrombie Section of Pediatric Cardiology, Baylor College of Medicine, Texas Children's Hospital, Houston, TX 77030, USA. jrossano@bcm.tmc.edu
• J. Pediatr. 2009 May 1;154(5):672-6.

ObjectiveTo test the hypothesis that pediatric residents would have shorter time to attempted defibrillation using automated external defibrillators (AEDs) compared with manual defibrillators (MDs).Study DesignA prospective, randomized, controlled trial of AEDs versus MDs was performed. Pediatric residents responded to a simulated in-hospital ventricular fibrillation cardiac arrest and were randomized to using either an AED or MD. The primary end point was time to attempted defibrillation.ResultsSixty residents, 21 (35%) interns, were randomized to 2 groups (AED = 30, MD = 30). Residents randomized to the AED group had a significantly shorter time to attempted defibrillation [median, 60 seconds (interquartile range, 53 to 71 seconds)] compared with those randomized to the MD group [median, 103 seconds (interquartile range, 68 to 288 seconds)] (P < .001). All residents in the AED group attempted defibrillation at <5 minutes compared with 23 (77%) in the MD group (P = .01).ConclusionsAEDs improve the time to attempted defibrillation by pediatric residents in simulated cardiac arrests. Further studies are needed to help determine the role of AEDs in pediatric in-hospital cardiac arrests.

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