<p><strong>BACKGROUND: </strong>Automated external defibrillators (AEDs) are critical in the chain of survival following out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA), yet few studies have reported on AED use and outcomes among pediatric OHCA. This study describes the association between bystander AED use, neighborhood characteristics and survival outcomes following public pediatric OHCA.</p>

<p><strong>METHODS: </strong>Non-traumatic OHCAs among children less than18 years of age in a public setting between from January 1, 2013 through December 31, 2017 were identified in the CARES database. A neighborhood characteristic index was created from the addition of dichotomous values of 4 American Community Survey neighborhood characteristics at the Census tract level: median household income, percent high school graduates, percent unemployment, and percent African American. Multivariable logistic regression models assessed the association of OHCA characteristics, the neighborhood characteristic index and outcomes.</p>

<p><strong>RESULTS: </strong>Of 971 pediatric OHCA, AEDs were used by bystanders in 10.3% of OHCAs. AEDs were used on 2.3% of children ≤ 1 year (infants), 8.3% of 2-5 year-olds, 12.4% of 6-11 year-olds, and 18.2% of 12-18 year-olds (p &lt; 0.001). AED use was more common in neighborhoods with a median household income of &gt;$50,000 per year (12.3%; p = 0.016), &lt;10% unemployment (12.1%; p = 0.002), and &gt;80% high school education (11.8%; p = 0.002). Greater survival to hospital discharge and neurologically favorable survival were among arrests with bystander AED use, varying by neighborhood characteristics.</p>

<p><strong>CONCLUSIONS: </strong>Bystander AED use is uncommon in pediatric OHCA, particularly in high-risk neighborhoods, but improves survival. Further study is needed to understand disparities in AED use and outcomes.</p>

<p><strong>BACKGROUND: </strong>Cardiac arrest associated with drowning is a major public health concern with limited research available on outcome. This investigation aims to define the population at risk, and identify factors associated with neurologically favourable survival.</p>

<p><strong>METHODS: </strong>The Cardiac Arrest Registry for Enhanced Survival (CARES) database was queried for patients who had suffered cardiac arrest following drowning between January 1, 2013 and December 31, 2015. The primary outcomes of interest were for favourable or unfavourable neurological outcome at hospital discharge, as defined by Cerebral Performance Category (CPC).</p>

<p><strong>RESULTS: </strong>A total of 919 drowning patients were identified. Neurological outcome data was available in 908 patients. Neurologically favourable survival was significantly associated with bystander CPR (Odds Ratio (OR)=2.94; 95% Confidence Interval (CI) 1.86-4.64; p&lt;0.001), witnessed drowning (OR=2.6; 95% CI 1.69-4.01; p&lt;0.001) and younger age (OR=0.97, 95% CI 0.96-0.98; p&lt;0.001). Public location of drowning (OR=1.17; 95% CI 0.77-1.79; p=0.47), male gender (OR=0.9, 95% CI 0.57-1.43; p=0.66), and shockable rhythm (OR=1.54; 95% CI 0.76-3.12; p=0.23), were not associated with favourable neurological survival. AED application prior to EMS was associated with a decreased likelihood of favourable neurological outcome (OR=0.38; 95% CI 0.28-0.66; p&lt;0.001) In multivariate analysis, bystander CPR (adjusted OR 3.02, 95% CI 1.85-4.92, p &lt;0.001), witnessed drowning (adjusted OR 3.27, 95% CI 2.0-5.36, p&lt;0.001) and younger age (adjusted OR 0.97, 95% CI 0.96-0.98, p&lt;0.001) remained associated with neurologically favourable survival.</p>

<p><strong>CONCLUSIONS: </strong>Neurologically favourable survival after drowning remains low but is improved by bystander CPR. Shockable rhythms were uncommon and not associated with improved outcomes.</p>