SMS lifesavers is a unique project in which we send SMS to cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) trained civilians to get more people to start CPR early, before the ambulance arrives.

Our system is active in the entire county of Stockholm and we have now started the final scientific evaluation. At a later stage we hope to link our SMS-system to the Swedish defilibrator register so we would urge anyone who has a defibrillator to register it on www.hjartstartarregistret.se

Each year some 900 locals in Stockholm suffer from cardiac arrest outside the hospital . Most people do not survive!
The SMS-lifesaver project that started in May 2010 was initially available for those who lived or worked in central Stockholm but since November 2011 everybody in the county may join in.

The SMS-lifesaver project is a remarkable project that uses mobile location technologies in order to improve survival after cardiac arrest outside the hospital by engaging civilians to begin CPR before the ambulance is on site. When a suspected cardiac arrest has been received by 112 (The Swedish emergency number) you may if you are nearby quickly be alerted to the site via your mobile phone.

Purpose
Project SMS-lifesavers aims to improve survival after cardiac arrest in the county of Stockholm. SMS-lifesavers is a unique research project run by Södersjukhuset and Karolinska Institutet, where mobile positioning technology (geographic definition of the position of mobile phones) are used to identify and quickly alert the lifesaver with knowledge of cardiopulmonary resuscitation in cardiac arrest outside the hospital. The project is supported by Hjärt- lungfonden and Stockholms läns landsting .

Time is the most important factor for survival
When cardiac arrest outside the hospital occur, time from cardiac arrest until the life support begins is the most important factor for survival. The probability of surviving a cardiac arrest is low but increases dramatically if the victim’s breathing and circulation is maintained by CPR and if a defibrillator can be used early in the course of actions.

You can save lives by using your cell phone
In Sweden, over 2 million people are trained in cardiopulmonary resuscitation. There are good opportunities for those who suffer cardiac arrest outside the hospital to be able to survive if only the aid may reach the victims. By using mobile positioning technology ie. geographical positioning of mobile phones, you who are trained in CPR may save lives by being alerted via your cell phone at the scene of a suspected cardiac arrest if it occur closeby.

How SMS-lifesavers works
When an emergency call is received by the 112 a geographical position is determined for the caller of the conversation. If there is suspicion that an cardiac arrest has occurred the emergency operator activates a positioning system that locates the cell phone users connected to the service SMS-lifesavers. In cases where a lifesaver is in the vicinity of the site of the suspected cardiac arrest the lifesaver is alerted through the mobile phone. Meanwhile ambulance and emergency services are alerted.

The alarm to the SMS-lifesaver’s mobile phone comes as an SMS. The text message contains information from the emergency services about where the suspected cardiac arrest has occurred and the message also includes a map link which can be used to more easily find the location. The SMS-lifesaver also receives an automatically generated phone call to alert the user that an SMS arrived on the phone. A while later the lifesaver is contacted with an email and an SMS as to describe what happened. This is partly due to it being a research project and also due to a possibility for the lifesavers to tell us in the project if they wish to have more contact about what happened.

You as a lifesaver
To be included in the project SMS-lifesavers you must be over 18 and have completed training in cardiopulmonary resuscitation. You must also have a good command of Swedish. All communication to SMS-lifesavers is done in Swedish only. If you get an alarm and arrives before the ambulance and rescue services introduce yourself as an SMS-lifesaver and begin CPR. When the ambulance and emergency services arrive hand over to them in a good way and if possible give a brief report on what you’ve seen and done. If instead you arrive after the ambulance or rescue services then your skills are to be regarded as superfluous. Avoid going forward and instead let them work undisturbed at the site.

It is important to remember that society’s ordinary resources are always alerted to the site. You as an SMS-lifesaver can be another resource that can be life-saving for the person suffering from cardiac arrest but the ambulance and the rescue services arrive quickly to the site.

Posted via http://www.smslivraddare.se/english

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