Developing a geographic strategy for equal rapid response first aid

Abstract

Background: All people have rights to take first aids equally because they have risk for sudden cardiac arrest at any time. Japan employs mainly two inclusive strategies for rapid response first aid. The first is public services such as fire trucks and ambulance response. The second is increasing the number of first responders. However, many residents are geographically unaware whether public services in their areas provide quick responses during emergencies, such as cardiac arrest. For this reason, they lack knowledge the necessity of mutual aid, which enables nearby neighbors who have undergone proper training to respond and provide first aid. Thus, the study aims to identify geographically specific areas where mutual aid is essential for rapid response first aid.Methods: The study targeted 20 cities in Japan designated by government ordinance and to simulate response areas reachable by public service. The driving conditions with 3 min were simulated with the speed limits, which are obeyed by the Japanese Road Traffic Act. Also, the populations covered in the areas was calculated in each targeted city.Results: The simulated map appears to render easy recognition of weak areas that may benefit from rapid response and may necessitate mutual aid. The maximum, minimum, and median population coverage rates are 65%, 22%, and 38.5%, respectively.Conclusion: The study indicates that mutual aid for rapid response is essential to most of the targeted areas in the case of sudden cardiac arrest. Moreover, mutual aid can be implemented strategically by geographic visualization and numerical values for equal rapid response first aid.