The idea of ​​using a drone to transport a heart starter to a person with cardiac arrest has been around for a couple of years. But the Gothenburg-based company Everdrone, SOS Alarm and the Karolinska Institutet (KI) are the first in the world to make the concept a reality within the framework of a clinical study.

- In practice, it is possible that an alarm comes in to SOS Alarm that a person has suffered a cardiac arrest. In connection with that, we get a notice about this and within a minute we can have a drone in the air on the way to the address, says Mats Sällström, CEO of Everdrone.

The drones are autonomous, which means that they are not controlled by a person, but take a pre-calculated path. However, a pilot always sits and monitors the flight and ensures that the cardiac arrest is lowered in the right place.

70 percent can survive

The idea of ​​the project is to be able to save more lives. Today, only ten percent of those who suffer from sudden cardiac arrest survive. But according to Andreas Claesson, who is a cardiologist at KI, up to 70 percent can survive if you get heart and lung rescue early, as well as a shock from a heart starter.

- We can see from data from sudden cardiac arrest in the community, where there are cardiac starters in, for example, sports halls, that if you use cardiac starters within the first few minutes up to 70 percent can survive, he says.

In addition to having a heart starter that lands outside your home when you alert SOS Alarm, an operator from SOS Alarm will also be able to instruct how to use it.

Rain, wind and other restrictions

However, today there are some limitations with the drone flights. Within the framework of the project, they will only be able to reach up to 80,000 people and they will not be able to lift at night or when it rains.

How often will the drone be able to help?

- It remains to be seen, we will get a result. Besides not being able to fly in all weather or night time, there are situations, with buildings or houses that do not fit. We do not think we will be able to fly on all events, but for those we can fly on, the potential is very large.

In the clip above you hear SOS Alarm about why they want to invest in drone deliveries and you get to see how a heart starter is delivered