ORLANDO, Fla. — A new smartphone application connects bystanders with AEDs and out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) patients.
Japanese researchers developed the app, called AED-SOS, which signals co-rescuers in communities when and where a cardiac arrest has occurred, according to research presented at the American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions 2015.
The simulation study, led by Toshihiro Hatakeyama, MD from Kyoto University, tested whether the app can shorten the process of finding and delivering AEDs by studying participants who were assigned to either a group with AED-SOS or a group without the app. Both groups participated in scenarios involving mock OHCAs.
Researchers found that among the 52 people they analyzed, the time from recognition of the OHCA to AED delivery was an average 133.6 seconds in the AED-SOS group, versus 202.2 seconds in the group without the app.
Shortening the time from OHCA recognition to when shocks are delivered could increase survival, researchers said.
To see how the app works, watch this video.