1 - Evaluation of a usability optimized AED design
Ziad Mabrouk · 2018
Background:Basic life support (BLS) guidelines focus on chest compressions with a minimal no-flow fraction (NFF), early defibrillation, and a short perishock pause. By using an automated external defibrillator (AED) users are guided through the process of preparing the patient, attaching electrodes and initiating defibrillation. Methods: Two AED mockups with two different pads bag placements were tested on a patient simulator. The first one is a variant (A) where the bag is placed on the front of the device in direct view of the user but occluding the user interface (UI); for the second variant (B), it is placed on the back of the device so the user have a direct view on the UI. Additionally, a new optimized bag and pads front design are used in both versions.Results: Data from 24 simulations with lay rescuers were analyzed. The mean time from switching the device on until finding the bag was 30.22 seconds (SD 8.57) for the variant A and 35.06 seconds (SD 7.51) for the variant B. The mean time from the voice prompt to open the bag until finding the bag was respectively 5.92 seconds (SD 8.57) and 7.66 seconds (SD 7.51). Independent of both variants, the time until pads are stuck to the patient was 43.86 seconds (SD 16.41). The variant A presents better results than the variant B and can be considered as more intuitive. Compared to previous studies, the new designs of bag and pads front shorten the time of preparing the patient and attaching the electrodes and allow for earlier defibrillation.Conclusions:The study results still show room for improvement. The challenge for further improvements is to balance the various elementsu2014pads, accessoires, visual guidance, voice promptsu2014in order to achieve the lowest possible NFF over the whole process of resuscitation.