Acute cardiac care & resuscitation

Device damage and malfunction during dual defibrillation or dual electrical cardioversion: a scoping review

ResuscitationPublished scoping review

Authors' conclusion

Device damage and malfunction during dual defibrillator use are documented in both published and regulatory sources. Damage may remain occult until later testing, creating risk beyond the index case. Standardized prospective reporting and routine post-use device testing should be considered wherever dual defibrillator use is employed.

Study context

Population
Sources reporting device damage or malfunction associated with two external defibrillators delivering shocks within one second or less of each otherrecords from 2016 to 2026 included · published sources five · regulatory adverse event reports 24
Participants
29 participants
Outcome
Device damage and malfunction in published sources
Methodological detailsin accordance with JBI methodology and PRISMA-ScR, PubMed, Embase, CINAHL, CENTRAL, and gray literature were searched without language or date restrictions, Regulatory adverse event databases were also searched
  • In accordance with JBI methodology and PRISMA-ScR
  • PubMed, Embase, CINAHL, CENTRAL, and gray literature were searched without language or date restrictions
  • Regulatory adverse event databases were also searched

Main finding

As reported in the abstract

Events of lasting device damage
eight
Temporary malfunctions
four

Further findings

Device damage and malfunction in regulatory reports

Records describing device damage
11
Records describing malfunctions
16
  • Across 24 regulatory reports

Recognition of damage

Reported damage was often not recognized during the index event and was instead identified on post-use testing or later routine self-checks

Published source designs

Randomized trials
two
Survey study
one
Case report
one
Ad-hoc retrospective study
one

Original publication

Device damage and malfunction during dual defibrillation or dual electrical cardioversion: a scoping review. Resuscitation. Published 1 July 2026. doi:10.1016/j.resuscitation.2026.111186

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