Drone networks could cut response times for cardiac arrest patients

Emergency medical drone networks could cut response times for out-of-hospital cardiac arrests by delivering automated external defibrillators within minutes, according to a study set to be presented at the European Emergency Medicine Congress in Paris. Researchers analyzed thousands of cardiac arrest cases and found that integrating drone bases with existing emergency infrastructure could ensure rapid access to life-saving equipment across large urban areas.

Cardiac Arrest Survival Rates and Time to Treatment

In the UK alone, emergency medical services attempt resuscitation in more than 30,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests annually, as reported by the British Heart Foundation. Survival rates remain below one in 10, and many survivors experience lasting neurological complications. Matthieu Heidet, a professor of emergency medicine at Henri-Mondor university hospital in Créteil, France, emphasized the critical window for intervention. We have an objective as EMS organisations and EMS physicians to help cardiac arrest patients get defibrillated as early as possible, Heidet stated. Every minute that passes without cardiopulmonary resuscitation and defibrillation reduces a victim’s chance of survival by 10%.

Analysis of Fixed Defibrillator Accessibility

To evaluate current emergency coverage, researchers analyzed 28,349 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests that occurred between 2011 and 2024 across administrative areas in the Greater Paris region, excluding central Paris. The team cross-referenced these incidents with the locations of 1,893 fixed automated external defibrillators. Dr Hillary Minka, an emergency physician at the Lariboisière hospital in Paris and the study’s first author, noted significant gaps in accessibility. Only 30% of all out-of-hospital cardiac arrest cases occurred within the target 500-metre network distance of the nearest recorded fixed AED, Minka said. The analysis revealed that achieving 84.5% coverage within 500 metres would require an additional 910 fixed devices, while 100% coverage would demand 1,712 extra units. Furthermore, ground transportation networks allowed for a round-trip retrieval of existing fixed AEDs within five minutes for only 30% to 40% of cases. Heidet noted that real-world access is even lower, pointing out that only 8% of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest patients in France receive public AED intervention before emergency services arrive, often because devices are housed in enclosed private spaces that are not open continuously.

Drone Integration Models and Response Times

To overcome the limitations of fixed units and ground transport, the research team modeled the deployment of drone bases operating within a radius of 3,900 metres. The models placed drone sites at current AED locations, fire stations, and mobile intensive care units. Introducing drone bases substantially reduced the requirement for additional fixed devices. Minka explained that utilizing 100 drone bases alongside 26 additional fixed AEDs would place more than 97% of cardiac arrest cases either within 500 metres of a fixed device or within approximately 4 kilometres of a drone base. Scaling the infrastructure to 200 drone bases and just four extra fixed AEDs would cover over 99% of cases. In this 200-base scenario, drone delivery reached virtually all modeled cardiac arrest cases within a five-minute window. Heidet noted that while these computational models did not examine real-world deployment, similar drone delivery methods are already active in parts of Sweden and have successfully saved lives. In operational systems, dispatch centers activate the drones upon receiving an emergency call, and trained pilots oversee the final approach and delivery of the AED for use by bystanders. Heidet added that evaluating such technology requires balancing ideal medical models with feasible economic costs.