• Brian Haskins, Ziad Nehme, Peter Cameron, Stephen Bernard, Laura Parker-Stebbing, and Karen Smith.
• NHMRC Centre of Research Excellence in Pre-hospital Emergency Care Australia and New Zealand (PEC-ANZ), Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
• Emerg Med Australas. 2020 Feb 1; 32 (1): 166-168.

AbstractWe welcome the recent announcement by Coles and Woolworths that public access defibrillators (PADs) are now available in their stores, as early defibrillation with PADs is associated with significantly increased survival from out-of-hospital cardiac arrests (OHCAs). From 2008 to 2018 there were 120 OHCAs in Victorian supermarkets, overall 26.6% survived; however, when defibrillated by a PAD 66.6% survived. For all OHCA in Victoria, survival for defibrillation by a PAD was also higher at 55.5%, compared to 28.8% for paramedic defibrillation. Using this state-wide PAD survival rate, we estimate an additional 12 patients could have survived had PADs been available in all supermarkets. In Victoria last year there were 421 potentially viable OHCAs in public locations, of these 132 patients survived; however, had PADs been available an additional 101 patients could have survived. We therefore strongly encourage local businesses to install PADs, to safeguard the well-being of their employees, customers and local communities.© 2019 Australasian College for Emergency Medicine.

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