Defibrillator access pays dividends

From Orlando, Fla., at a meeting of the American Heart Association

Making electronic heart stimulators available in public facilities and training lay people there how to operate them can boost the chances of survival for people who suffer cardiac arrest–a loss of pulse–in such places, according to new findings.

Researchers went to 993 shopping malls, apartment buildings, office buildings, sports facilities, and other public places in the United States and Canada and trained nearly 20,000 people in these facilities how to spot cardiac arrests and how to administer cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR).