'Hanging on a drone, this arrived in 3 minutes... Saved a cardiac arrest emergency patient'

A new emergency response system in Sweden using drones saved a man in his 70s from the risk of a heart attack.
[Photo by Everdrone website capture]

[Asia Economy Reporter Sumi Hwang] Sweden's new emergency response system using drones saved a man in his 70s from the risk of cardiac arrest.

According to the UK BBC broadcast on the 6th (local time), on the 9th of last month, a 71-year-old man shoveling snow in the yard of his home in Trollh?ttan, southwestern Sweden, felt abnormal in his heart and collapsed.

At that time, Dr. Mustafa Ali, who was on his way to work at a nearby hospital, witnessed the incident and rushed to provide emergency treatment. Ali also asked those around to contact 112 (Sweden's emergency number).

A few minutes later, a drone flew in and delivered a defibrillator to Ali. Ali used the defibrillator to provide emergency care, and soon after, an ambulance arrived and transported the patient to the hospital.

The drone reportedly arrived at the scene within 3 minutes after the emergency call was received.

The patient, who regained consciousness, said, "It's amazing that the drone could arrive so quickly," and added, "In the village, traffic congestion can be a problem, but drones do not have such concerns."

The drone manufacturer, Everdrone, stated, "The chain of actions to save the patient's life included the doctor performing CPR, the initial CPR efforts, and the measures taken inside the ambulance, with the drone playing an important role among them."

This emergency response system is the result of collaboration between the Karolinska Institute in Sweden, the Swedish National Emergency Call Center, drone companies, and local governments.

In 2020, they started a project researching drone delivery technology for defibrillators in Gothenburg and Kung?lv in western Sweden.

During the four-month project, drones were dispatched to 12 out of 14 suspected cardiac arrest reports, successfully delivering defibrillators except for one case. Among these, drones arrived earlier than ambulances in 7 cases.

Everdrone explained, "The core of this technology is to establish an integrated system where drones can check reports and dispatch at any time."

These drones are linked to the emergency reporting system and are designed to fly immediately upon receiving a suspected cardiac arrest report. Although the drones operate automatically as set, personnel are separately prepared to monitor the drones' movements for safety reasons.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.