Cardiac arrest occurring outside of hospital (i.e. at home or in the community), known as out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA), is a significant public health issue, affecting nearly 3,000 Western Australians each year, including children and young adults. OHCA has a high case fatality, often with less than 10% of victims surviving to hospital discharge. However, several strategies are known to improve patient outcomes, including reducing the time to defibrillation. Bystander application of an automated external defibrillator (AED) reduces the time to defibrillation in OHCA, rather than having to wait 8-12 minutes for the paramedics to arrive; and significantly improves survival. In Western Australia in 2019 survival to hospital discharge rates for OHCA were significantly higher (2-fold increase) if a public AED was used compared with other patients attended by paramedics.
Strategic placement of AEDs in the community is essential to ensure their accessibility. Initial work undertaken by PRECRU developed an empiric model for the strategic placement of publicly accessible AEDs in metropolitan Perth. Using data on the location and timing of OHCAs, and the locations and hours of access of existing public-access AEDs, candidate locations were compared for future deployment of AEDs. Through spatiotemporal modelling, these data enabled candidate AED location types (businesses / organisations / public locations) to be ranked according to their potential to increase AED coverage for OHCA cases. However, to-date this analysis has focussed on arrests in public locations in metropolitan Perth. 

This doctoral program will examine strategies for improving AED access in rural and remote WA, and for the majority (70%) of OHCAs that occur in private residences. 

This PhD will compare the feasibility and effectiveness of alternative strategies for enabling rapid access to AEDs – including the use of app-based alerts of registered community first responders, and emerging technologies such as personal AEDs. These comparisons are expected to require a combination of biostatistical analysis, spatial analysis (e.g. using Geographic Information Systems, GIS), and/or computer simulation methods. 

The significance of this PhD is that it provides the opportunity to develop and apply analytical skills in relation to an important real-world problem – of helping to inform future gains in survival from out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. While recent years have seen a promising increase locally and internationally in the numbers of lives saved through bystander use of AEDs (with 22% of all OHCA survivors in WA in 2019 having received a AED shock by bystanders), the overall use of AEDs remains very low (e.g. 5% of OHCA cases in WA in 2019 had an AED applied by bystanders). For future gains, especially in more challenging locations such as rural/remote regions and private homes, there is a need for robust analytical methods to compare different strategies. This PhD will help fill that knowledge gap. 

This project may provide an Internship opportunity. We will explore the option of the candidate gaining direct experience with St John WA's program of defibrillation placement and community education. 

• Future Students

• Faculty of Health Sciences

• Higher Degree by Research

• Australian Citizen
• Australian Permanent Resident
• New Zealand Citizen
• Permanent Humanitarian Visa

• Merit Based

The annual scholarship package (stipend and tuition fees) is approx. $60,000 - $70,000 p.a.

Successful HDR applicants for admission will receive a 100% fee offset for up to 4 years, stipend scholarships at the 2023 RTP rate valued at $32,250 p.a. for up to a maximum of 3 years, with a possible 6 month completion scholarship. Applicants are determined via a competitive selection process and will be notified of the scholarship outcome in November 2023. 

For detailed information, visit: Research Training Program (RTP) Scholarships | Curtin University, Perth, Australia.

1

All applicable HDR courses

The applicant will need to demonstrate an interest in quantitative research methods: epidemiology, biostatistics, spatial analysis and/or computer simulation modelling. A background in the use of statistics, spatial analysis software, or computer programming would be an advantage; however, training will be provided if required. Whilst clinicians (including paramedics) are most welcome to apply, a clinical background is not essential. PRECRU PhD students are expected to publish academic papers during their candidature and will be supported to achieve this. Fluency in English is essential and the successful applicant will be required to work both independently and as part of a team. 

If this project excites you, and your research skills and experience are a good fit for this specific project, you should contact the Project Lead (listed below in the enquires section) via the Expression of Interest (EOI) form. ahead of the closing date. Please note you should apply as soon as possible, as once a suitable candidate has been identified this opportunity will no longer be available to receive an EOI.

Eligible to enrol in a Higher Degree by Research Course at Curtin University by March 2024.

Recipients must complete their milestone 1 within 6 month of enrolment and remain enrolled on a full-time basis for the duration of the scholarship.

To enquire about this project opportunity that includes a scholarship application, contact the Project lead, Judith Finn via the EOI form above.