A pilot program in Forsyth County, North Carolina and James City County, Virginia, is exploring whether drones can help save the lives of people experiencing sudden cardiac arrest by delivering automated external defibrillators (AEDs). When a 911 call fits the criteria, both EMS and a drone are dispatched; if the drone arrives first, it lowers an AED to the scene from about 200 feet in the air while dispatchers coach bystanders on how to use it.
With more than 350,000 cardiac arrests occurring in the U.S. each year—and survival dropping by roughly 10 percent for every minute without defibrillation—getting an AED into someone’s hands quickly could have a profound impact.
“This project is laying the groundwork for what we hope will become a large, multi-center randomized clinical trial,” said Joseph Ornato, an emergency medicine professor at Virginia Commonwealth University, study co-lead and SCAF advisory council member. “That future research will help us understand critical questions about how well this works, what it costs, and how we can get AEDs to people as quickly as possible whether they live in a city or rural community.”
Read the full article here.
SOURCE: Popular Science