Evaluating the Impact and Economics of Home Automated External Defibrillators: Insights from the CARES Registry

Automated external defibrillators (AEDs) improve survival rates in private home cardiac arrests with shockable rhythms.
Large US cohort study (n=582,536) from the Cardiac Arrest Registry to Enhance Survival (CARES) analyzed AED effectiveness in homes.
Despite survival benefits, the cost-effectiveness of home AED deployment is limited at current device costs and cardiac arrest incidence.
AEDs would be cost-effective only if cardiac arrest incidence in a household exceeds 1.3% annually or AED costs drop below $65.