SALT LAKE CITY—Priority Dispatch Corp.™ (PDC™), the world leader in emergency dispatch technology, including ProQA™ software, and Heartsafe Living – AED Alert System, developers of a neighborhood heart assistance program, announce their cooperation to globally improve the survival rate of individuals experiencing sudden cardiac arrest (SCA).
The first six minutes are absolutely crucial in the event of SCA with life literally hanging in the balance as they wait for EMS response to arrive on-scene. Heartsafe Living – AED (Automated External Defibrillator) Alert System, of Dutch origin, and PDC’s ProQA bridge that gap through a process combining the efficiency of two significant interventions.
Heartsafe Living – AED Alert System brings neighborhood volunteers, trained in the use of AED, to the scene of an SCA, putting AED first response just around the corner from anyone, according to Heartsafe Living – AED Alert System Director Michiel Wildschut. PDC’s ProQA maximizes first response at the emergency communication center through scripted Pre-Arrival Instructions (PAIs) within the Medical Priority Dispatch System™ (MPDS®).
The collaboration links the Alert System directly to ProQA, and in the event of a cardiac arrest alert received by the dispatch center, ProQA will notify volunteers automatically by text message or by using a specifically developed app.
The arrangement complements the companies’ analogous goals, according to PDC Senior Vice President Ron McDaniel.
“The ProQA system brings greater awareness of the Heartsafe Living – AED Alert System to dispatch centers worldwide,” he said. “Together, we are taking global step to improve survival rates for the victims of sudden cardiac arrest.”
Cardiologist Rudolph W. Koster of the Department of Cardiology at the Academic Medical Center at the University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands, has demonstrated through his research that survival from a SCA is increased between 9 and 23 percent as a result of Heartsafe Living – AED Alert System.
“Even in a relatively densely populated country such as the Netherlands, with internationally low ambulance response times, Heartsafe Living is able to send aid faster in 65 percent of incidents,” Dr. Koster said.
About PDC
PDC provides products and training for emergency dispatch centers using a comprehensive systems approach. The protocol systems (Medical, Fire, and Police Priority Dispatch Systems, and the Emergency Center Nurse System [ECNS]) have gained international credibility from 35 years of testing, research, and user input. The system is available worldwide in 21 languages and is used in 45 countries including: Malaysia, China, Australia, Brazil, Austria, the Netherlands, Italy, Lithuania, Qatar, Canada, and the U.K. For more information, visit: www.prioritydispatch.net
About Heartsafe Living – AED Alert System
Heartsafe Living is a voluntary assistance program started in the Netherlands to supplement EMS response. Its neighborly first aid approach was designed to reduce the number of deaths due to critical circulatory arrest. Since its founding in 2009, Heartsafe Living has installed – and maintains - 1,501 AEDs in 53 cities, and has trained more than 15,000 volunteers who, collectively, in 2014 alone participated in 3,189 interventions.
For more information, access the Heartsafe Living video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F61f7oNZV8M