In recent years, public access defibrillation programs have exponentially increased the availability of automatic external defibrillators (AED) in public spaces but there are no data on their performance in our setting. We conducted a descriptive analysis of the performance of AED since the launch of a public defibrillation program in our region.

A retrospective analysis was conducted of electrocardiographic tracings and the performance of AED in a public defibrillation program from June 2011 to June 2015 in the province of Girona, Spain.

There were 231 AED activations. Full information was available on 188 activations, of which 82% corresponded to mobile devices and 18% to permanent devices. Asystole was the most prevalent rhythm (42%), while ventricular fibrillation accounted for 23%. The specificity of the device in identifying a shockable rhythm was 100%, but there were 8 false negatives (sensitivity 83%). There were 47 shockable rhythms, with a spontaneous circulation recovery rate of 49% (23 cases). There were no accidents related to the use of the device.

Nearly half of the recorded rhythms were asystole. The AED analyzed showed excellent safety and specificity, with moderate sensitivity. Half the patients with a shockable rhythm were successfully treated by the AED.