Accurate AED records can greatly improve the odds that a nearby device will be placed in service during a cardiac arrest event.

Meaningful location descriptions such as "In the gymnasium, under the scoreboard," are much better than "on the west wall" (compass points are best avoided). Satellite imagery and geospatial coordinates that allow rapid map-based direction and retrieval are vastly superior to text descriptions alone. Ensuring that pin placement is precise is a key component of registry quality control.

For AEDs not under program management, expiration dates for all AED consumables, such as batteries and pads, should still be tracked and kept current. This helps ensure AEDs will be ready when needed.

When "report an issue" mechanisms are used by the community, such as stating an AED is not ready for use or an establishment is out of business, addressing the feedback report promptly is important. This helps keep the registry accurate and reinforces the community feedback loop.

Each AED record should be individually reviewed on a periodic basis. The NEAR Registry will highlight any AED not reviewed in the past 365 days.

Provide simple, convenient methods to add AEDs directly into the community registry—no paper forms and no rekeying of information.

Communities should host an online data entry form on their website to allow AED owners to register an AED. AED coordinators and community volunteers can use the NEAR Registry app to simplify field-based data collection, including capturing images and determining precise GPS coordinates. PulsePoint agencies can also advise community members to use the easy-to-remember website, aed.new to report new devices to their registry.

Be responsive to those helping to build and improve your registry.

AEDs submitted by the community are placed in a "pending" status until reviewed by the local public safety agency. These pending AEDs are not shared with dispatchers or other responders and are not shown on public-facing agency AED maps. A pending AED is a device someone has already installed, but until it's reviewed, dispatchers can't send anyone to it and the public can't see it on your map. Vetting these entries quickly keeps that gap as short as possible. The NEAR Registry will highlight any AED in a pending status.

POWERING TELECOMMUNICATORS WITH THE LOCATION OF EVERY AED

Emergency Communications Center (ECC) telecommunicators are a critical link in the cardiac arrest chain of survival. Similar to Telecommunicator CPR (T-CPR) instruction, telecommunicator guidance to AED locations (T-AED) can improve outcomes.

STRATEGIC INTEGRATIONS WITH INDUSTRY LEADERS

The NEAR Registry is integrated with leading emergency medical dispatch (EMD), pre-arrival instruction, and tactical map vendors, including ProQA Paramount, APCO Intellicomm, Total Response, ZOLL Dispatch, and RapidSOS Unite. These strategic integrations allow telecommunicators to inform callers of the exact location of registered AEDs within familiar applications and workflows.

When a cardiac arrest occurs near a registered AED, subscribers to that device receive an AED-needed alert requesting they deliver the AED to the reported location.

• Industry-wide support for all AED manufacturers and models.
• Notifications are based on AED proximity to the cardiac event. No personal location sharing is used.
• AED-needed alerts appear on phones, watches, and tablets, and simultaneously across all signed-in devices.
• Multiple participants, such as a neighborhood AED program or workplace safety team, can subscribe to a single AED.
• Alerts can be set to critical, time-sensitive, or normal priority, with critical alerts able to override Do Not Disturb settings.
• View street-level imagery of where the AED is needed, including an interactive 360° daytime panorama of the destination address.
• Tap an AED icon for additional details, including device/cabinet image in the context of its surroundings, full location description, and accessibility information such as access codes and business/location hours.
• Responsible parties can independently test alerts with individual subscribers.
• AED-needed alerts are delivered through the PulsePoint Respond network of emergency communication center (ECC) integrations.

Learn more

Beyond getting CPR started faster and more often, a key objective of the PulsePoint Respond app is to use the registry to alert those near a cardiac arrest event to nearby AED locations, and to notify anyone in the vicinity who's carrying a personal AED.

The American Heart Association's own guidelines make the case for this directly:

"Emergency dispatch systems should alert willing bystanders to nearby events that may require CPR or AED use through mobile phone technology (Class 1, LOE B-NR). Despite the recognized role of lay rescuers in improving OHCA outcomes, most communities experience low rates of bystander CPR and AED use. Mobile phone technology, such as text messages and mobile phone apps, is available to summon trained members of the general public to nearby events to assist in CPR and to direct those responders to the nearest AED. Notification of lay rescuers via a mobile phone app results in improved bystander response times, higher bystander CPR rates, shorter time to defibrillation, and higher rates of survival to hospital discharge."

Critical medications and supplies required for extremely time-sensitive medical emergencies such as severe bleeding, anaphylaxis, and opioid overdose are increasingly colocated with AEDs. These resources include Bleeding Control Kits, Naloxone (Narcan®), and Epinephrine (EpiPen®). Recording the presence of these items in the AED registry gives dispatchers and community members visibility into what's available at each location. It also lets you track dressing and drug expiration dates the same way you already track AED consumables like electrodes and batteries.

Your AED registry shouldn't be a secret! Use the trusted voices in your community to publicly discuss the registry and the importance of knowing where all AEDs are located.

Recognize dispatchers and community members who use the registry during cardiac arrest emergencies.

Place a map of AED locations on your website to showcase your registry and encourage people to report missing devices.

Direct citizen participation can help create greater location awareness and mindfulness of the important role AEDs play in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest survival. Use contests and community events to foster conversations around public AEDs, reduce fear of their use, and make identifying and locating AEDs a family activity.

PulsePoint provides a wide range of outreach tools and campaign strategies to get your community AED-aware and ready to help. PulsePoint apps and marketing materials are available in multiple languages. If your agency serves a multilingual community, making these resources available in the languages your community speaks is critical for life-saving resources like AEDs. Here are just a few examples from the strategies link above:

• Partner with Scouting America and Girl Scouts troops to register AEDs as part of their community programs.
• Host an AED scavenger hunt and offer prizes to those who register the most AEDs.
• Piggyback on awareness weeks/months such as Heart Month (Feb.), Sudden Cardiac Arrest Awareness Month (Oct.), CPR/AED Awareness Week (June 1-7), etc., to promote AED awareness and encourage people to register AEDs.
• Place registered stickers on your AED cabinets to indicate that an AED has been added to the community registry. The stickers can also serve to increase program awareness and encourage others to register additional AED locations.