NSPE Senior Manager of Government Relations Sarah Ogden participated in a stakeholder teleconference with the Food and Drug Administration's Center for Devices and Radiological Health regarding the External Defibrillator Improvement Initiative. The initiative seeks to encourage innovation in and improve the safety and effectiveness of the next generation of external defibrillators. While FDA urges consumers to continue using current external defibrillators, the agency hopes to improve design and manufacturing practices to enhance future devices and reduce instances of failure.

NSPE will discuss engineering design practices that could improve external defibrillators at an FDA workshop in December.