Sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) remains a major public health concern among industrialised nations, especially the US reporting approximately 350,000 SCAs annually. There is a clear need for strategic placement of AEDs within public spaces to promote more rapid treatment of SCA. We propose a multi-disciplinary method by using an optimum location model in conjunction with population health and ArcGIS block level data. Analytics reveal that certain population segments are at higher risk for SCA, and we propose a total risk-adjusted coverage value (TRACV) as the objective of the optimum location model. Data collected from PulsePoint, a public AED registry, for Boone County, Kentucky is used as a case study. Extensive solution and policy analyses are reported. The analyses suggest that simply purchasing more AED units unsystematically is not the best answer to improving AED access, thereby amplifying the significance of employing location analysis and modelling approach for public health planning.
Angel et al. (Thu,) studied this question.