External Defibrillators Have High Recall Rates

August 2006

According to the Journal of the American Medical Association, not all owners of automated external defibrillators (AEDs) are aware of their high recall rate.

A review of the AED devices from 1996 to 2005 found:

• There is a one in 20 chance that your AED will be recalled in any given year.
• Within a 10-year period, one in five AEDs were recalled.
• There were 370 fatal malfunctions from 775,000 AEDs currently implanted.

The number of malfunctions is relatively small in relation to the number of lives saved, but a better notification system is necessary to alert owners of the AEDs danger. This requires returning the card that comes with the AED so that owners’ names and addresses are registered with the manufacturer in the event of a recall.

The devices are typically found in hospitals and ambulances, where they are used to shock a heart back into rhythm. But AEDs are also found in other institutions such as schools, churches, airports, maybe even in your own home.

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