The University of Surrey is running the study, with Air Ambulance Charity Kent Surrey Sussex (‘KSS’), and South East Coast Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust.
“With survival rates for OHCA in the UK currently below 10%, a key challenge is the delay in delivering life-saving defibrillation,” according to the university. “While public AEDs [automated external defibrillators] are widely available, getting them to a patient in time is often difficult.”
Funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), the 16 month initiative has two strands:
- Develop the drone delivery process through simulations that co-ordinate 999 calls, air traffic control, ambulance dispatch and drone operators.
- Gather public perception and other data by interviewing: OHCA survivors, families of OHCA victims, members of the public, and responders to OHCAs.
NIHR is funded by the UK’s Department of Health and Social Care, plus UK government international development funding for its work in low and middle income countries.
A year ago, the UK CAA (Civil Aviation Authority) initiated six drone-based programmes, one of which was called ‘Lifeline’ and dedicated to the delivery of critical medical equipment such as defibrillators, Epi pens and anti-bleeding kits, as well as to providing live camera feeds for situation awareness.
That also included air ambulance charity KSS, as well as drone air-space management company Altitude Angel, air traffic control company NATS, London Gatwick Airport and medical drone provider Everdrone.
Everdrone is a speciallist in medical drones, which has gained operational knowledge through involvement with six defibrillator delivery evaluation projects in towns across the west coast of its native Sweden where, since 2021, around 300 sorties have been flown.
As part of Lifeline, Everdrone joined the UK Civil Aviation Authority’s ‘Beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) sandbox’ which is one segment of a UK Government scheme to deliver BVLOS drone flight regulations.
Everdrone is also providing drones for the University of Surrey defibrillator programme, and the photo above, supplied via the University of Surrey, is of Everdrone operating over Mölndal in Sweden – the other towns are: Fiskebäck, Torslanda, Kungälv, Trollhättan and Vänersborg.
