Drones successfully delivered automated external defibrillators to the locations of suspected out-of-hospital cardiac arrests, according to a speaker at the European Society of Cardiology Congress.
In 64% of cases, the AED arrived nearly 2 minutes ahead of the ambulance, researchers reported.
For every minute without treatment for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, the chances of survival decrease by approximately 7% to 10%, and, in Sweden, the median ambulance response time is about 11 minutes, according to the presentation. Therefore, researchers posited that drone delivery of AEDs directly to cases of suspected cardiac arrest may not only be feasible but may arrive faster than an ambulance.
“Last year, we conducted a study where we looked at the use of drones to deliver [AEDs] to patients suffering from cardiac arrest,” Sofia Schierbeck, MD, physician at Karolinska University Hospital and PhD student at Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, said during a presentation. “We found that AEDs can be carried by drones to real-life cases of cardiac arrest outside of hospitals, and we also found that there can be a time benefit as compared to the emergency medical services (EMS) or ambulance, in the cases where the drone arrived first.”
Continue reading: https://www.healio.com/news/cardiology/20210908/aedequipped-drones-can-arrive-minutes-ahead-of-ems-for-outofhospital-cardiac-arrest
In 64% of cases, the AED arrived nearly 2 minutes ahead of the ambulance, researchers reported.
For every minute without treatment for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, the chances of survival decrease by approximately 7% to 10%, and, in Sweden, the median ambulance response time is about 11 minutes, according to the presentation. Therefore, researchers posited that drone delivery of AEDs directly to cases of suspected cardiac arrest may not only be feasible but may arrive faster than an ambulance.
“Last year, we conducted a study where we looked at the use of drones to deliver [AEDs] to patients suffering from cardiac arrest,” Sofia Schierbeck, MD, physician at Karolinska University Hospital and PhD student at Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, said during a presentation. “We found that AEDs can be carried by drones to real-life cases of cardiac arrest outside of hospitals, and we also found that there can be a time benefit as compared to the emergency medical services (EMS) or ambulance, in the cases where the drone arrived first.”
Continue reading: https://www.healio.com/news/cardiology/20210908/aedequipped-drones-can-arrive-minutes-ahead-of-ems-for-outofhospital-cardiac-arrest
