Defibrillator drone delivery helps save lives in Sweden – sUAS News
For the first time in medical history, a drone has played a crucial role in saving a life in the event of a sudden cardiac arrest. The world-unique feat took place in Trollhättan, Sweden in December 2021, when an Everdrone autonomous drone delivered a defibrillator that helped save the life of a 71-year-old man.
“This is a truly revolutionary technology that must be implemented everywhere,” says the patient, who has now fully recovered.
Everdrones Emergency Medical Aerial Delivery Service (EMADE), an innovative link in the chain of life-saving measures from the Västra Götaland region, was set for the toughest tests on the morning of 9 December.th in 2021. In the Swedish city of Trollhättan, a 71-year-old man shoveled snow on his driveway when he suffered a cardiac arrest outside the hospital (OHCA). Thanks to the combination of an immediate emergency call, Dr. Mustafa Ali’s rapid action and the rapid delivery of an Automated External Defibrillator (AED), life-saving measures through defibrillation could be initiated before the ambulance arrived, and his life was saved. The time from the alarm until the AED was delivered safely outside the door to the incident address was just over three minutes. After the first treatment on site, the patient was taken to hospital in an emergency and is today fully recovered.
“I can not describe in words how grateful I am for this new technology and the fast delivery of the defibrillator. If it were not for the drone, I probably would not have been here, ”says the 71-year-old patient who has been fully recovered and has now been able to return to his home.
For Dr Mustafa Ali, the experience was equally gratifying, despite the seriousness of the situation.
“I was on my way to work at the local hospital when I looked out the car window and saw a man collapsing in his driveway,” says Dr. Ali. “I immediately understood that something was wrong and hurried to help. The man had no pulse so I started doing CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) while I asked another spectator to call 112 (the Swedish emergency number). Just a few minutes later saw “I flew something over my head. It was a drone with a defibrillator!”
Thanks to Dr. Ali and the use of the defibrillator, life-saving treatment was started early and which ultimately meant that the patient’s life was saved.
“This is a truly revolutionary technology that must be implemented everywhere; sudden cardiac arrest can happen to anyone, not just old people with atherosclerosis,” says the patient.
The drone delivery system in the Västra Götaland region is developed and operated by Everdrone, a world-leading company in autonomous drone solutions. The solution has been developed and improved continuously in close collaboration with the Center for Resuscitation Science at Karolinska Institutet, SOS Alarm and the Västra Götaland region. The business is also supported by Vinnova, Swelife and Medtech4Health.
“This is an excellent real-world example of how Everdrone’s groundbreaking drone technology, fully integrated with emergency transmission, can minimize time for access to life-saving AED equipment,” said Mats Sällström, CEO of Everdrone.
Approximately 275,000 patients in Europe and 350,000 in the United States suffer from OHCA annually. About 70% of OHCAs occur in private homes without an AED in place, and the ambulance response time is often too long to save the patient’s life. The chance of survival decreases by 7-10% for every minute after the collapse, and consequently the current survival among OHCA patients is only 10%. Everdrone’s innovative airborne AED delivery service is a proven method to address this critical issue. The service can currently reach 200,000 inhabitants in Sweden and is expected to expand to more locations in Europe by 2022.
The drone system has been established scientifically to reduce response times and the entire study is published in European Heart Journal.
About Everdrone
Everdrone AB develops technology for autonomous drones and offers advanced drone services. The company’s test and development facilities are located at Sisjön, Gothenburg. The company focuses on civilian applications, mainly related to healthcare and rescue operations. Everdrone works actively with regulatory issues related to drones, specializing in operations in urban areas. For more information, visit https://everdrone.com