New Study Investigates The Ability Of Drones To Help Heart Attack Patients

doitvoluntarily (77) in technology • 8 years ago (edited)

Drones have proven useful in a number of different commercial settings and one of the areas where there is a lot of potential for growth is within the medical industry.

Researchers around the globe have already been investigating the possibilities when it comes to incorporating drone technology into the medical space, particularly with the task of delivering necessary medical supplies in rural areas and following natural disasters etc.

The scientists in Sweden who conducted the study to investigate the possibility for using drones to help heart attack patients, just recently published their findings in the JAMA medical journal.

At the moment, many individuals who suffer from a heart attack are going to place a call to the emergency services, which will then dispatch a vehicle to them or depending on their area it might take a (very costly) helicopter flight.

The study sought to investigate the possibilities of using drones to deliver AED equipment to heart attack patients, the drone would be sent out instead of an ambulance. The AED equipment is the automated external defibrillator and they say that the drone would be able to carry this equipment to the scene; equipped with instructions for those standing by on how they can use it to help those who need the assistance following their attack.

It's estimated that the use of an AED within the first 3 minutes of a heart attack/cardiac arrest, could help to increase the chances of survival for the individual by as much as 75 percent. Therefore, the longer that it takes to get to that equipment to the individual, the survival rate obviously decreases.

According to the American Heart Association, for every minute that passes it reduces the chances of survival from anywhere between 7 percent to 10 percent. EVERY SECOND COUNTS. And if the drones can shave minutes off the delivery time, it's clear they are the superior choice that can help to save more lives.

They found that the drones were able to outperform the ambulances by a median of 16 minutes.

After the emergency call gets placed, researchers said it took the ambulance minutes to be dispatched, whereas it only took the drones seconds to get up in the air and on its way.

When it comes to ambulances, most patients aren't even aware that they often will have to pay for this cost and it isn't cheap. Especially for those who end-up having to take an emergency hospital flight, it can leave them with a bill that is thousands of dollars. So not only could the drones save lives but they could also help to save the consumer money.

Drones have already been successful at delivering a variety of goods in the market, a variety of food products, mail packages, and also medical supplies around the world. When they aren't being used in unjust wars to leave countries in ruin, there really is a lot of good that they could do for the world in terms of raising our standard of living, making services more efficient, and even helping to save lives.

banner thx to @son-of-satire

Pics:
Pixabay
Research Communications and Public Relations Texas A&M via research.tamu.edu/2016/05/11/lab-on-a-drone-could-improve-management-of-disease-outbreaks/
Iridia Medical

Sources:
http://fortune.com/2017/06/13/drone-heart-attack-ambulance/
http://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/2631520
https://www.recode.net/2016/9/23/13034774/ups-drone-medical-delivery-atlantic-island
https://www.theverge.com/2016/8/2/12350274/zipline-drone-delivery-us-launch-blood-medicine
http://blog.iridiamedical.com/tag/aed/page/3/
https://www.heart.org/idc/groups/heart-public/@wcm/@adv/documents/downloadable/ucm_301646.pdf

8 years ago by doitvoluntarily (77)

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survivebubble (56) · 8 years ago

Great post! I saw this also in the swedish MSM yesterday that they are trying out having drones with medical equipment for patient that have a heart attack. Compared to an ambulance the drone was much faster at site.

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jhermanbeans (59) · 8 years ago

Really interesting suggestion for use of drones. Never thought of that before.

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djohan (66) · 8 years ago

Faster and cheaper than ambulance

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popa (32) · 8 years ago

I think this is a great concept. Time is crucial in these situations. Upvote from me :)

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mcekworo (45) · 8 years ago

Good to know this. Thanks for the information @doitvoluntarily
This tech. can save more lives.

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2 votes

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ayeshanor (44) · 8 years ago

Thanks for the information. These drones will be really helpful in the future.
Upvote n resteemed!
Following u, would love to be followed back :)

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marxrab (65) · 8 years ago

That is really interesting. I live near a hospital that is one of the best in our state. They have the best heart doctors, equipment, and treatment facilities. I could easily see them using drones in the future as part of their program.

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s3rg3 (67) · 8 years ago

As I currently own a drone myself solely for a hobby I am glad that some companies are inventing good use for these drones. My dad perhaps could still be amongst us if reanimation came in time.

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crisgojar (54) · 8 years ago

Technology right now is very usefull specialy if we use this one in proper way. I believe if they invented this drone to be being an ambulance, it will saced many lives not only heart attack patience even in emergency situation. Informative post @doitvoluntarily

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steem2themoon (51) · 8 years ago

Amazing im doing drone videos myself and am a fan off. Great blogpost! 🛫🛫

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yuniasyaf (50) · 8 years ago

Thanks for information @doitvoluntarily
This drone must be very helpful in the future

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cannabissativa (57) · 8 years ago

wow that is awesome , it is truly amazing to see what possibilities drones bring to society . Both good and bad .

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teodora (64) · 8 years ago

I had the chance to participate in a NASA Hackathon in London where we were trying to use a swarm of drones to gather info about aerosols :)

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1 vote

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alokkoshal (55) · 8 years ago

Awesome.. Technology is moving so fast that with the blink of eye something wonderful comes up.... Thanks for sharing :)

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wealthy-easily (51) · 8 years ago

Are you sure they are sent out instead of an ambulance? I would think they are sent out at the same time, but they can reach the location much faster. I mean leaving someone with a drone after a heart attack doesn't sound like a good idea. I guess it would be used for emergency aid and the ambulance would arrive after that.

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doitvoluntarily (77) · 8 years ago

the drone leaves them with the AED and the instructions on it that apparently are easy to use.. so risk mins on the ambulance and with each passing minute 10% decrease on chances of survival.. or take that drone option with the AED? lol :)

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doitvoluntarily (77) · 8 years ago

might be instead of and if still nec sent out afterwards:)

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borislavzlatanov (54) · 8 years ago

As I could see from this passage ("The AED equipment is the automated external defibrillator and they say that the drone would be able to carry this equipment to the scene; equipped with instructions for those standing by on how they can use it to help those who need the assistance following their attack."), the drone relies on other people being around the person with the heart attack. But it is unknown whether there are such people and how much they would be able to follow the instructions. So probably the usefulness of the drone is that it gets there faster. But the ambulance would still be needed, for now at least.

I imagine that, if the person has a device that monitors their heart rate, that device could automatically signal the hospital at the time of the heart attack, or even a little bit before it (assuming the heart has recognizable behavior before it has an attack). So the drone would get there even if there is no one around the attack victim to call the hospital. And the drone could make sounds to call the attention of people nearby. And the software system could message/call the person's relatives/friends who are registered as emergency contacts.

So much unutilized potential...

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ham12 (26) · 8 years ago

This is going to revolutionize the world.

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fotosdenada (65) · 8 years ago

Nice post! I heard a little about it on the radiio, too. We're going to have to figure out drone politics and airspace soon, with everyone wanting to deliver everything from medical devices to pizza with drones!

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oksanasemenova (48) · 8 years ago

Thanks for information @doitvoluntarily !!

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diverse-thinker (49) · 8 years ago

@doitvoluntarily its a nice article upvoted

you can see my article too and if you resteem it i will be obliged

https://steemit.com/technology/@diverse-thinker/a-house-in-a-day-wonders-of-materials

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bree1042 (68) · 8 years ago

It sure is faster and cheaper way to save lives! I didn't know something looks like a toy can do so much things.

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hengist-horsa (42) · 8 years ago

Very interesting, any new development to save lives is wonderful news. We really are at the a stage in human history that knows no bounds, we will look back one day and see the lives we live now as so backwards.