A defibrillator flying a drone from the nearest 118 station proved faster than the ambulance, called for a simulated cardiac arrest, arriving 12 minutes early. This is the result of the third flight test of the Seuam (Sanitary Emergency Urban AirMobility) experimental project of Sis118.
For every minute that passes from the onset of a sudden cardiac arrest approximately 10% of the chances of survival are lost. In Italy, recalls the president of S is 118, there are over 60 thousand sudden deaths per year. In the near future, hyper-fast drones will make it possible to drastically reduce the arrival times of the defibrilator in these highly critical scenarios, says Mario Balzanelli, president of the Sis 118 and leader of the Seuam project. The drone took 3 minutes and 18 seconds to arrive, compared to 13 minutes and 23 seconds for the ambulance to arrive in Altomonte (Cosenza) The chances of surviving are extremely high, even greater than 70%. It is therefore essential to launch as soon as possible, on a regulatory basis, innovative "dynamic" strategies.