Using food delivery services to provide rapid assistance for cardiac arrest can save lives. This is reported by UNN with reference to medicalxpress.com.
Details
A group of researchers developed a simulation that explored the potential of using the existing food delivery network in Taipei (Taiwan) to address this problem.
The simulation assumed that each open restaurant in a hotspot had one courier waiting and ready to respond to sudden cardiac arrest cases within a two-kilometer radius. The response speed of the couriers varied, and the simulated defibrillator arrival time was compared to the documented fire department delivery time, which was between six and seven minutes. The difference in defibrillator arrival time during peak and off-peak hours was also assessed.
With a 10% fire department driver response rate, defibrillator arrival time was reduced by 2.99 minutes, which is approximately 44% of the initial emergency medical service response time. In the simulation, over 60% of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest cases were successfully assisted. To achieve 80% coverage during peak hours, 13.4% of fire department drivers needed to respond to the call.