Can Drones Effectively Assist Ambulances with Defibrillator Deliveries?
Can Drones Effectively Assist Ambulances with Defibrillator Deliveries?
Can You Get Treatment for Cardiac Arrests Faster From a Drone Than From an Ambulance?
It’s fair to say that our UK ambulance services work arguably harder than many other industries. However, in an ever-changing, tech-magnetic world, it’s no surprise that people are looking to revolutionary appliances to make their lives easier, better, or potentially, longer.
Towards the end of November this year, a trial in Sweden demonstrated that people who have gone into cardiac arrest could get treatment faster if a drone were to deliver a defibrillator, rather than paramedics bringing one in an ambulance or witness trying to find one stationed nearby.
How Do Defibrillators Work?
According to the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, defibrillators work by applying an electrical charge or current to the heart to restore a normal heartbeat after it has stopped.
It’s worth noting though, as many will know already, that this is only beneficial if there is someone present to conduct Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR), as well as the patient being connected to the defib.
How Much Do Ambulance Response Times Matter?
When reviving patients who have gone into cardiac arrest, time is critically important. So much so, that defibrillation within 3–5 minutes of collapse can increase survival rates by as high as 50-70%, according to The Resuscitation Council UK.
According to The British Heart Foundation, the average ambulance response times for category 2 calls - which includes suspected cardiac arrests and strokes - rose to over 42 minutes in October of 2023 in England.
Now, it’s worth remembering that ambulance response times will vary depending on many things, a lot of which will be completely out of a paramedic's control, despite their best efforts.
Having said this, it's also worth considering that the addition of defibrillator delivery drones to ambulance services across the UK could be a hugely positive and beneficial attribute in keeping people safe and looked after, alongside the work of our heroic paramedics and emergency medical workers.
How Could Defibrillator Delivery Drones Improve and Assist Our Ambulance Services?
According to a recent landmark study conducted in Sweden, drones delivering defibrillators consistently outperform ambulances in the race to get to patients.
In April 2021, Andreas Claesson at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden and his colleagues, launched a project with drone operator Everdrone and the emergency services in western Sweden, to see if drones could help assist ambulances in aiding cardiac arrest patients.
Drones equipped with defibrillators and ambulances were dispatched to each suspected case of cardiac arrest.
The drones were kept at two locations in Sweden with controlled airspace. These locations covered about 200,000 people. All calls for cardiac arrests in non-hospitalised patients resulted in the simultaneous sending out of standard emergency medical services, as well as drones.
Across the 55 cases, drones were quicker than ambulances 67% of the time, and by an average of three minutes and 14 seconds.
“Drones can be alerted, arrive, deliver AED, and people on site have time to use the AED before the ambulance arrives," says Sofia Schierbeck, PhD student at the same department and first author of the study.
With all of this information in mind, we could assume that, just like a drone, this subject is a no-brainer. Drones could be really helpful in assisting ambulance services across the UK, and potentially relieve some stress on emergency workers who experience such high pressures in our busy society.
It’s never quite that simple though, is it?
Why Aren’t Revolutionary Drone Deliveries Talking Off?
We’ve discussed the stats and the benefits that could come from defibrillators delivered by drone, however, there will always be negatives to new technology being integrated into any industry, let alone an industry that is of such high importance.
There will be technical difficulties, as tech is generally harder to rely on than a human being that is dedicated to their job. There are also regulatory hurdles, privacy and security concerns that need ironing out, economic factors, and public perceptions that all contribute to the slow integration of this drone delivery ideology.
To Sum Up...
Like all evolution, this system will likely work out its kinks over time through lots of thorough, human-lead screening and refining, and the findings of Andreas Claesson and his team will become a reality.
We live in hope that this advance in technology might one day help our emergency services to save more lives.
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