Drones could help cut the time it takes to get a defibrillator to people experiencing cardiac arrests when not in hospital, researchers have suggested. In the UK alone, there are more than 30,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests a year where emergency medical services attempt to resuscitate the individual, according to the British Heart Foundation. However, fewer than one in 10 people survive such an event, and some who do are left with neurological problems.
One important factor that can affect survival is how rapidly victims get access to treatment – every minute without CPR and defibrillation reduces the chance of survival by 10%. Work by Heidet and colleagues has suggested drones could be used to increase access to the life-saving devices. To explore the issue, the team analysed the number and location of 28,349 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests that occurred between 2011 and 2024 in administrative areas within the Greater Paris area.
Central Paris was excluded from the analysis. The team cross-referenced these events with the location of fixed automated external defibrillators (AEDs). The researchers found accessibility of the 1,893 AEDs varied considerably across the area.
The team found an extra 910 fixed AEDs would be needed for 84.5% of the recorded cardiac arrest cases to have been within 500 metres of an AED, while 1,712 extra fixed AEDs would be needed for 100% coverage. However, by using drones operating within a radius of 3,900 metres, coverage could be increased with fewer devices. The use of 200 drone bases and just four extra AEDs meant more than 99% of cases would have been covered.
The researchers also looked at the proportion of the cardiac arrest cases deemed close enough to an existing fixed AED that the device could be retrieved in a round trip within five minutes. The results revealed only 30-40% of the cardiac arrest cases had access to current fixed AEDs within this time period using the ground transportation network. Heidet added that this figure was optimistic.
By contrast, Minka noted that in a scenario involving 200 drone bases, 871 existing fixed AED sites and four additional fixed AED sites, drone delivery reached virtually all of the cardiac arrest cases covered by the model within five minutes. The team’s models were based on drones being housed at sites ranging from current AED locations to fire stations and mobile intensive care units, and did not look at real-world deployment of such tech. Heidet noted it is not the first time drones have been considered for the delivery of AEDs; the approach is already being used in parts of Sweden and has saved lives.
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