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posted by martyb on Saturday January 08 2022, @03:31PM   Printer-friendly
from the can't-"beat"-it! dept.

Drone helps save cardiac arrest patient in Sweden:

An autonomous drone has helped to save the life of a 71-year-old man who was suffering a cardiac arrest.

The drone delivered a defibrillator to a doctor helping the man, who became ill while shovelling snow outside his house in Trollhattan, Sweden.

The man, who didn't wish to be named, told the BBC it was "fantastic" that it arrived so quickly.

The company behind the drone says it meant that defibrillation could begin before the arrival of an ambulance.

Everdrone says it took just over three minutes from the alarm being raised until the Automated External Defibrillator (AED) was delivered.

[...] The patient told the BBC he doesn't remember what happened that day in early December.

He was clearing thick snow from his driveway but when the cardiac arrest hit, "everything went black", he said.

[...] Dr Mustafa Ali, who happened to be driving past at the time, rushed to help and told Everdrone: "I was on my way to work at the local hospital when I looked out the car window and saw a man collapsed in his driveway.

"The man had no pulse, so I started doing CPR while asking another bystander to call 112 (the Swedish emergency number).

"Just minutes later, I saw something flying above my head. It was a drone with a defibrillator."

Everdrone chief executive Mats Sallstrom believes the technology played a part in a team effort to save the patient's life.

"It's a medical doctor doing CPR, it's the early defibrillation, it's the treatment in the ambulance on the way to the hospital," he told the BBC.

"It's important to understand that there's a chain of events saving the person's life, and the drone is a very critical part of how that system works."

The drone is a partnership between the Karolinska Institutet - Sweden's largest medical university - together with the national emergency operator SOS Alarm, Region Vastra Gotaland and Everdrone.

Finally some happy news.


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  • (Score: 2) by pe1rxq on Saturday January 08 2022, @04:18PM (16 children)

    by pe1rxq (844) on Saturday January 08 2022, @04:18PM (#1211073) Homepage

    Better option: supply every doctor with a defibrillator so they don't have to wait for a drone.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 08 2022, @05:22PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 08 2022, @05:22PM (#1211096)

      That would cost money. Money better spent on PR for impracticable but profitable technological baubles.

    • (Score: 2) by EvilSS on Saturday January 08 2022, @08:10PM

      by EvilSS (1456) Subscriber Badge on Saturday January 08 2022, @08:10PM (#1211114)
      And require that they carry it on them at all times or face losing their license.
    • (Score: 2, Interesting) by khallow on Sunday January 09 2022, @12:36AM (13 children)

      by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Sunday January 09 2022, @12:36AM (#1211166) Journal

      Better option: supply every doctor with a defibrillator so they don't have to wait for a drone.

      Better option: supply every patient with a defibrillator. Wouldn't do it with today's iffy software (Clippy: "I see you're having a heart attack, would you like to..."), but I think eventually modern man will be carrying enough internal medical gear by default to automatically defibrillate in relative safety.

      • (Score: 2) by acid andy on Sunday January 09 2022, @01:25AM (4 children)

        by acid andy (1683) on Sunday January 09 2022, @01:25AM (#1211173) Homepage Journal

        Why not just genetically engineer a second heart as a spare? It could go in the right hand side of the chest, just like a Vulcan.

        --
        If a cat has kittens, does a rat have rittens, a bat bittens and a mat mittens?
        • (Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 09 2022, @07:29AM (3 children)

          by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 09 2022, @07:29AM (#1211211)

          Vulcans have one heart located approximately where the human liver is. Thanks to the brak'lul, Klingons have an eight chamber heart which occupies both sides of the chest.

          • (Score: 2) by acid andy on Sunday January 09 2022, @08:23PM (2 children)

            by acid andy (1683) on Sunday January 09 2022, @08:23PM (#1211308) Homepage Journal

            Damn, I have a memory of a medical examination of an alien character where it's observed that they have two hearts, one beating on each side of their chest. I could've sworn it was Star Trek and I thought it was Vulcans. It could also have been in the "Making Of" book, among the early ideas they had in developing the lore. But maybe I'm confusing it with some other sci-fi.

            --
            If a cat has kittens, does a rat have rittens, a bat bittens and a mat mittens?
            • (Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 09 2022, @10:27PM (1 child)

              by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 09 2022, @10:27PM (#1211331)

              Well, Tom Paris grew another heart in Threshold. Maybe that is it.

              • (Score: 2) by acid andy on Sunday January 09 2022, @10:41PM

                by acid andy (1683) on Sunday January 09 2022, @10:41PM (#1211335) Homepage Journal

                That sounds like an amusing episode. I'll have to re-watch Voyager sometime. I've just realized the two hearts thing was most likely on Doctor Who.

                --
                If a cat has kittens, does a rat have rittens, a bat bittens and a mat mittens?
      • (Score: 4, Interesting) by nostyle on Sunday January 09 2022, @03:12AM (4 children)

        by nostyle (11497) on Sunday January 09 2022, @03:12AM (#1211183) Journal

        In 1996, following my second heart attack (I got stented), we were contacted by the local university to be part of a study of deploying automated defibrillators to at-risk cardiac patients. The wife was trained to follow the machine's instructions, and we did a couple practice sessions. We were issued our very own defibrillator. The fire department was also notified that there was one in our house so that if they got a call from one of our neighbors, maybe our machine could get there faster than they could and save a life.

        The defibrillator sat on a shelf for eight years. Then one day we heard beeping from the closet and discovered it was a low battery alarm on the device. We contacted the study group, and they swapped us a new one.

        That one sat on a shelf for another ten years. The battery died, but we never heard an alarm for it - perhaps we were out of town when it went off. We looked into getting it replaced, but the study was ended, and no one was interested in reviving the dead machine. We eventually dropped it at the fire department for proper recycling.

        Long story shortened... neither machine ever saw any use whatsoever. My cardiac problems persisted, but I managed to get by with nitro pills and aspirin to control angina. The doctors gave me a double by-pass back in 2016 which has left me symptom free so far since then.

        Issuing defibrillators to citizens is a stupendously stupid and wasteful notion. Making doctors carry them around everywhere is only slightly less stupid. Having a defibrillator delivery drone on station at every fire department might be a pretty good idea.

        Oh... and FWIW smoking tobacco is a pretty bad idea.

        --
        "...workin' too hard can give you a heart attack" - Billy Joel, Movin’ Out (Anthony’s Song) [genius.com]

        • (Score: 1) by khallow on Sunday January 09 2022, @07:36PM (3 children)

          by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Sunday January 09 2022, @07:36PM (#1211297) Journal

          Issuing defibrillators to citizens is a stupendously stupid and wasteful notion.

          Those were external defibrillators. I'm thinking internal automated defibrillators, basically a souped up pacemaker. We already have them, but for high risk patients only.

          You wouldn't need the juice of an external defibrillator to get this thing going. Even now, implantable defibrillators can operate for 5-7 years on standby. My take is that in a few decades, the reliability of this stuff might improve to the point where it makes sense to put it in healthy people as well.

          • (Score: 2) by nostyle on Monday January 10 2022, @12:35AM (2 children)

            by nostyle (11497) on Monday January 10 2022, @12:35AM (#1211359) Journal

            ...this stuff might improve to the point where it makes sense to put it in healthy people as well

            Dude!

            In the middle of a pandemic, we can't even convince folks to voluntarily get injected with a vaccine that could save their life.

            Good luck getting them to volunteer for a cardiac implant when they are healthy!

            • (Score: 1) by khallow on Monday January 10 2022, @06:37AM

              by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Monday January 10 2022, @06:37AM (#1211439) Journal
              You can convince some people. And my take is that more people would adopt as the technology turns out non-creepy and live saving. That checks the box as far as I'm concerned.
            • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 11 2022, @03:14PM

              by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 11 2022, @03:14PM (#1211775)

              You make it mandatory like the Harkonnen heart valves so they can water the plants with the inferior members blood. Include a cellular or pager style feature and any political dissidents can be easily warned with a defib, or terminated with a longer defib. Also you can save their life if they turn out to be a useful asset!

              Makes you think... you might need a drink.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 09 2022, @05:19AM (1 child)

        by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 09 2022, @05:19AM (#1211193)

        At work, there are defibrillators located prominently on the walls of most of the larger buildings on campus (like fire extinguishers). Free classes are regularly available for anyone who wants to learn to use them / learn CPR. The cost is pretty minimal for a defibrillator being within a few minutes anywhere on campus (and likely someone who has taken the training to use it too).

        Using drone delivery just seems like a silly (and time wasting) gimmick that adds failure points.

        • (Score: 1) by khallow on Sunday January 09 2022, @07:37PM

          by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Sunday January 09 2022, @07:37PM (#1211298) Journal

          The cost is pretty minimal for a defibrillator being within a few minutes anywhere on campus

          What happens if you're not on a campus? Or if you want to shave a few minutes off those few minutes (survival goes up as the AED arrives faster after all).

      • (Score: 2) by Freeman on Monday January 10 2022, @05:38PM

        by Freeman (732) on Monday January 10 2022, @05:38PM (#1211547) Journal

        You are assuming, that Microsoft's Clippy didn't just force that update, through. I mean, you're just a dumb end-user anyway.

        --
        Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
  • (Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Saturday January 08 2022, @04:18PM (1 child)

    by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Saturday January 08 2022, @04:18PM (#1211074) Journal

    That drone will push the doctor out of the way, scoop up the patient, retract him inside of the drone, rescusitate him, perform heart surgery if necessary, then disgorge the patient at the ER entrance with instructions for recovery.

    • (Score: 5, Informative) by canopic jug on Saturday January 08 2022, @04:34PM

      by canopic jug (3949) Subscriber Badge on Saturday January 08 2022, @04:34PM (#1211078) Journal

      Nah. It's the same hardware as the police version. The difference is that the software settings adjust the output current of the drone's taser down to therapeutic levels, most of the time, assuming the subscription has been paid up to date.

      --
      Money is not free speech. Elections should not be auctions.
  • (Score: 3, Funny) by SomeGuy on Saturday January 08 2022, @04:41PM (3 children)

    by SomeGuy (5632) on Saturday January 08 2022, @04:41PM (#1211082)

    Yay, spend $$$ on drones! Drones are good! Buy drones!

    "Trollhattan".... That explains it.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 08 2022, @06:07PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 08 2022, @06:07PM (#1211098)

      City of trolls or not, it beats most of the US where a crowd mills about, watching someone die, and waiting for the EMTs to come clean up the mess.

    • (Score: 2) by acid andy on Sunday January 09 2022, @01:28AM (1 child)

      by acid andy (1683) on Sunday January 09 2022, @01:28AM (#1211175) Homepage Journal

      Yeah, I'm so conflicted. I keep hearing that drones kill people. But this drone saved that man. Now I don't know what to think. I'm so confused.

      --
      If a cat has kittens, does a rat have rittens, a bat bittens and a mat mittens?
      • (Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 09 2022, @01:44AM

        by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 09 2022, @01:44AM (#1211176)

        We need drones equipped with both guns and surgical tools. Flying all-in-one life and death platform.

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