Automated external defibrillator. Trends of automated external defibrillator training in Saudi Arabia, and global perspectives on use and deployment

Abstract

Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and the use of automated external defibrillator (AED) training have become widespread in Saudi Arabia and the need permeated in all sectors of healthcare profession. Healthcare providers are required to renew their certification every 2 years for an optimal practice, and it has become a requisite for healthcare providers in Saudi Commission for Health Specialties and medical and nursing students prior to internship. The disparity between the goal of AED training and the use is no more overstatement. We attempt to collate, review and appraise articles related to training, cost-effectiveness, innovation, and policy, and to extrapolate a meaningful agenda of the current training provision in the region, and to possibly attract policy makers to reflect on a strategy on AED use and implementation for Saudi Arabia bringing it closer to a healthcare practitioner and a layperson to achieve the goal of decreasing out-of-hospital cardiac arrest.