SMS rescuer quickly on site in case of cardiac arrest –

Only one in ten people with a heart attack survives outside the hospital, which is why prompt help is so important. Previous research has shown that CPR performed before the ambulance or emergency services arrive doubles the chance of survival.

In order to save more lives, researchers at Karolinska Institutet have developed a system with SMS life-saving devices. This means that the volunteers, who are trained in CPR, are alerted via a text message in their mobile phones when a person suffers a cardiac arrest.

Instructions for retrieving the pacemaker

In the study, the researchers examined how AED use and CPR treatment were affected if rescuers were directed via SMS to retrieve the nearest AED using a map – before heading to the scene of sudden cardiac arrest. This was compared if they were alerted to perform CPR only.

Photo: Unsplash/Clique Images

vital text messages

• Volunteers who are trained in CPR are alerted and receive an SMS if cardiac arrest occurs.
• Today there are 130,000 SMS rescuers in eleven regions of Sweden.
• More than 20,000 defibrillators are available in public places.

First in place

The study showed that the volunteers who were alerted via text messages were the first to appear on the scene and had an important role to play. They used a pacemaker in a third of cases and provided cardiopulmonary resuscitation in nearly half of all cases of cardiac arrest.

– We can say that SMS rescuers, regardless of the instructions to get the nearest defibrillator or go directly to the person in cardiac arrest, can effectively provide life-saving assistance while waiting for ambulances, police or emergency services, as Elinor Berglund, a researcher at the Cardiac Arrest Research Center at Karolinska Institutet, says and continues:

– We interpret this to mean that many of Sweden’s 130,000 text rescuers have a pacemaker on hand and decide for themselves the most appropriate strategy for the situation.

Stady:

Effect of sending volunteer respondents via smartphone on automated external defibrillators and out-of-hospital cardiac arrests: the Samba randomized clinical trial.gamma heart.

Contact:

Elinor Berglund, PhD, Cardiac Arrest Research Center at Karolinska Institutet, [email protected]