Rural and urban community volunteer response groups ready, equipped with AEDs and dispatched to the scene via mobile apps can close the critical window between an SCA event and paramedic arrival especially in remote communities.
The Neighbors Saving Neighbors pilot study is being implemented in three communities in Ontario where paramedic response times can be upward of 20-30 minutes. The pilot is a program like the European model of vetted, registered, insured, equipped, and trained users responding in parallel to the professional response. The study outcomes are safety, feasibility, and effectiveness with training of simple, hands-only CPR and AED use, in addition to training on how to hand over to paramedic and fire when they arrive. The study uses the GoodSam app as the dispatch mechanism. The long-term goals are to optimize this program in Ontario, and then work with the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada and BC RESURECT to potentially scale up to other communities in British Columbia and across Canada.
Researchers
Steven C. Brooks, Scott Kline, Sheldon Cheskes, Timothy Chan