After a heart attack, each minute a person doesn’t receive care lessens their likelihood of survival by about 10%, Virginia Commonwealth University’s Dr. Joseph Ornato said.
It’s that kind of urgency that prompted the Richmond college and health system to partner with Duke University in a study to assess the efficacy of drone-delivered defibrillators to rural areas following an emergency call.
The drones, Ornato said, weigh five pounds — about the size of a handbag — and are flown by local law enforcement officers. They’re dispatched by the drone operator, who listens in on emergency calls to determine whether the issue is cardiological. And at the same time the drone’s being dispatched, emergency medical services are sent on their way.
It’s a race.
“The challenge is trying to make that available very, very quickly to the bystander,” Ornato said about the defibrillators.
Ornato was previously part of a study that investigated how well lay people are able to operate the defibrillators. He said there’s no chance of doing harm.
In Virginia, James City County was tapped to participate in the study, while the research is simultaneously conducted in North Carolina’s Forsyth County. Ornato said the sites were selected because of the localities’ well-regarded EMS and already established drone programs — which can also be used for surveillance.
Betsy Sink is the battalion chief for JCC’s emergency medical services and said the study doesn’t affect how other staff responds — but empowers people at the scene to help their family members and friends.
“It’s a bit of a roll of the dice to know that we will actually get it on scene and save a life,” Sink said. “That’s anybody’s guess, but the potential there is huge. And just doing a little bit of testing that we’ve done, we know that there are several areas and several places that we can get it on scene faster than we can get our officers and EMS to arrive.”
After the study, Ornato said, the next step would be to stand up a randomized multi-city trial involving both suburban and rural areas. Completing the entire process could take at least 5 years.