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    Out-of-hospital cardiac arrests have a 90% mortality rate. In Wales, the ambulance service is trialling drone delivery of defibrillators.
    Futurology

    Out-of-hospital cardiac arrests have a 90% mortality rate. In Wales, the ambulance service is trialling drone delivery of defibrillators.


    Outside of its urbanized south, Wales is predominantly mountainous and relatively sparsely populated. The mountainous terrain makes East-West lateral travel notably more difficult than North-South travel through Wales' valleys. Bad news if you're having a heart attack and in urgent need of an ambulance.

    This trial shows members of the public were still a delay chokepoint in operating the defibrillators. Approximately 2,800 individuals experience out-of-hospital cardiac arrests (OHCAs) in Wales each year. Blanketing Wales with several hundred of these drones might save many lives.

    Drones could soon respond to cardiac arrests

    Out-of-hospital cardiac arrests have a 90% mortality rate. In Wales, the ambulance service is trialling drone delivery of defibrillators.
    byu/lughnasadh inFuturology

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    5 Comments

    1. Frogophile on

      Defibrillators have a much higher survival rate than CPR alone. Essentially, CPR keeps you alive until the defibrillator arrives. And if it’s more than 10 minutes, you are toast.

    2. AndersDreth on

      I don’t know how widespread this is, but here in Denmark we have something known as “Hjerteløbere” which roughly translates to ‘heart runners’ which are volunteers that get alerted when someone is having a heart attack, they are then given the location of the patient and the nearest defibrillator.

    3. dustofdeath on

      Assuming there is anyone around who dares or knows CPR.

      People will film with phones, others screaming and look shocked, and the rest wait for someone else to do it.

      Or completely fail CPR because they are afraid to break ribs.

    4. steve_of on

      I had an out if hospital cardiac arrest 9 years ago. I only survived because the sporting club i was participating at had an AED (automatic defibrillator) and the persons who did CPR basically started as soon as I hit the floor. By the time the ambulance arrived my heart had regained rhythem after two hits from the machine. Fast application of CPR and an AED is critical.

    5. ptolemy18 on

      I recently signed a DNR order for this exact reason. Unless you’re coding IN an emergency room with an easily identifiable and reversible problem, it’s not worth the drugs, supplies and manpower just to end up with an anoxic brain injury.