Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and defibrillation within the first few minutes of cardiac arrest are essential to restore blood circulation to the brain and minimize cerebral injury. Early CPR and use of AEDs has been shown to double or triple SCA survival rates. However, the probability of survival decreases 13% for every minute of delay in administration of CPR and defibrillation. Despite advances in optimization, the best Canadian urban paramedic services currently average at least 7 minutes from a 9-1-1 call to arrival at the scene. Moreover, approximately 20% of Canada's population lives outside of urban metropolitan areas where response times can 12 minutes or longer and survival rates much lower.
Theme Projects
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Optimizing 9-1-1 Call Taker Recognition of SCA
If is often difficult for 9-1-1 call-takers to recognize a sudden cardiac arrest ( SCA) over the phone and be able to direct lay-responders to do CPR. Approximately 25% of SCAs are missed by dispatchers. Therefore, evaluating current response strategies, developing video assist and artificial intelligence based tools to help call takers more accurately recognize a cardiac arrest over the phone and upgrading training accodingly is crucial to improving survival from SCA.
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Biosensors to Detect Sudden Cardiac Arrest
Building effective and accurate sensors that can recognize the loss of circulation and then automatically notify a dispatch center of the location of the SCA patient will ensure that each SCA is “witnessed” immediately at the time of the collapse. Such sensors could increase the chance of survival in the current treated but “unwitnessed” group from 4%-16%. Sensors will also double the number of patients treatable by paramedics (rather than declaring futility due to lengthy intervals between collapse and discovery). Widespread use of biosensors would increase the number of cardiac arrest survivors nationally from 1,800 to 6,000 per year.