Study finds drones could speed AED delivery in cardiac emergencies

Researchers presented a computer simulation of drone delivery of automated external defibrillators (AEDs), using data from 28,349 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests across seven departments in the Île-de-France region, excluding central Paris. The study compared fixed AED locations with strategies combining fixed AEDs and drone bases. No drones were deployed.

The researchers found that in a hybrid strategy, AED access times fell by an average of 3.76 minutes across all IRIS units. More than 95% of cases could receive an AED within five minutes, compared with 30% to 40% when relying on road transport from existing fixed AEDs. They estimated that 200 drone bases and 871 fixed AED sites could provide 99.4% overall coverage.

Medical Xpress reported that the simulation estimated drone travel using straight-line distances and did not account for regulatory, weather or operational constraints. The researchers said the findings need confirmation in prospective studies and real-world experiments.