On the use of pharmacies to establish a defibrillator network

[conference]

Full reference

Wallace M., Champilomatis Ch., Ventirozou P., Pappas G., Poulopoulos V. and Vassilakis C., On the use of pharmacies to establish a defibrillator network, 20th International Workshop on Semantic and Social Media Adaptation & Personalization (SMAP), November 27-28 2025, Mystras, Greece

Abstract

Sudden cardiac arrest (SAC) is a leading cause of mortality. In recent years, though, many lives have been saved through the use of defibrillators by random bystanders. As a result, defibrillators have been popping up in various locations. In this work we propose a state mandate demanding the presence of a defibrillator at every pharmacy store and argue that it could greatly enhance and augment the impact of the defibrillator network. We support our claim via detailed calculations of the immediate (a defibrillator readily available) and partial (a defibrillator available at a reasonable distance) population coverage achievable by the implementation of our proposal, taking the Argolis area in Peloponnese Greece as a case study. Our findings indicate that, in addition to other benefits, the use of pharmacies to establish a defibrillator network could bring an eight-fold increase in the immediate population coverage of defibrillators and would provide immediate / partial access to a defibrillator to 18 / 24 incidents of SCA per year that would otherwise lead to death, potentially leading to the saving of numerous lives. Alternative scenaria are also discussed.

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