During a 911 emergency, everyone is expected to move out of the way of first responders en route to the scene. But these vehicles still need to follow roads, which may not provide a direct path to their destination. Traveling like crows would be far more efficient – and that’s exactly the idea behind this remarkable drone-powered project.
The Duke Health project is using drones to deliver treatment equipment during real medical emergencies in Clemmons, North Carolina. Described as “the first study of its kind in the US”, drones carry automated external defibrillators (AEDs—devices used to re-establish a dominant heartbeat in individuals experiencing cardiac arrest) to bystanders before EMS (emergency medical services) get there, with the goal of reducing cardiac arrest response times.
not superman
“Once the call comes in, the drone is launched to that location, the person is on the phone with the 911 operator, they’re giving them guidance, telling them what to do, what to expect. The drone is in flight with an AED attached. A few minutes later, the drone appears in the sky — not a bird, not a plane, not Superman — a drone and an AED,” Forsyth County Sheriff and a participant in the project Bobby Kimbro told reporters Wednesday. Said, as stated in the report. Statement from Duke University. “EMS is still coming. It’s just that the drone comes, and when EMS gets there, they pick him up and keep going,” he said.
That’s what the study is hoping to measure, anyway. Monique Starks, a Duke Health cardiologist and study leader, said the estimated average time to arrival for the drone is about four minutes, which would reduce response times to an average of 6- to 7 minutes. After all, drones don’t need to follow roadways. While 2 to 3 minutes may not seem like much, considering that a person experiencing cardiac arrest needs to get help within 10 minutes, according to Starks, this difference can save lives, especially in rural areas where response times can be even longer.
empowering the audience
“In the United States we know that it is [if] A patient can go into shock within two to five minutes, we might expect 50 to 70% survival, but we look at a 10% chance of survival, and that’s because we largely rely on first responders and EMS arriving on the scene before an AED is available,” Starks continued. “Currently in the United States, only 1 to 4% of cardiac arrest cases involve a bystander or community member. Will deploy the AED,” because cardiac arrests mostly happen in people’s homes, he explained.
“We want to change that dynamic. We want to bring that AED to the audience, so they can quickly shock a cardiac arrest patient and help them survive,” he said. Thus, the team is also keeping an eye on a possible increase in AED utilization rates. Ongoing studies show that this rapidly advancing technology is scary and carries huge risks, but it also has the potential to save lives.