Abstract 13237: Motivations and Barriers to Join an Automated External Defibrillator Network: A Nationwide Survey

Introduction: Since 2007, citizens have been able to register an automated external defibrillator (AED) with the Danish AED Network, which holds >23,000 AEDs (394 AEDs/100,000 inhabitants) linked directly to the Emergency Medical Dispatch Centers. In 2019, 60.8% of sold AEDs were registered in the network. This study aimed to identify motivations and barriers for registration with the nationwide Danish AED Network. Methods: A cross-sectional survey among owners of newly registered AEDs in the Danish AED Network was carried out from September 2017 to December 2020. Each month, 30-50 random AED-owners participated. The survey included items on motivations and barriers to join the AED network and items on AED accessibility. Results: In total, 1,540 AED-owners were included (25.3 % of newly registered in the period (n=6087)). The time from AED-purchase to AED-registration was “<1week” in 25.7%, “<1month” in 23.4%, “1month-1year” in 28.6%, “>1year” in 20.4%, and “Do not know” in 1.9%. Knowledge about the AED network is illustrated in Figure 1. Over half of the AED-owners registered their AED because they felt it was a ‘good cause’ (64.0%), followed by ‘registering upon request’ (20.6%), and ‘after a first aid course’ (5.5%). Of newly registered AEDs, 73.8% (n=1137) were 24/7-accessible. The most frequent reason for choosing limited AED accessibility (AED placed indoors/not available 24/7, n=403) was “greater expenses” (26.8%), whereas “fear of theft/vandalism” only accounted for 12.4%. Conclusion: Among AED-owners registering their AED to the Danish AED Network, most heard about the registry through word of mouth, registered their AED within the first year of purchase, and registered primarily because they felt it was a good cause. Most newly registered AEDs were 24/7-accessible. The biggest expressed barrier to AED accessibility was increased expenses whereas fear of theft or vandalism was a minor issue.