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Impressed by an pressing want to enhance well timed defibrillation for out-of-hospital cardiac arrests (OHCA) in dense city settings, a staff of investigators developed a simulation that explored the potential of leveraging an present meals supply community in Taipei Metropolis, Taiwan, to assist handle this problem.
Their findings within the Canadian Journal of Cardiology counsel that deploying meals supply riders to ship defibrillation could scale back automated exterior defibrillator (AED) response occasions by roughly three minutes—about 50% sooner than a standard emergency medical system (EMS)—and is perhaps significantly useful throughout peak hours.
Lead investigator Kuan-Chen Chin, MPH, Division of Emergency Drugs, Taipei Hospital, Ministry of Well being and Welfare, New Taipei Metropolis, and Division of Emergency Drugs, Nationwide Taiwan College Hospital, Taipei Metropolis, Taiwan, explains, “Every minute of delay in defibrillation reduces the survival fee by 7–10%. Our method leverages an present, widespread city workforce to handle a widely known weak hyperlink within the chain of survival.
“We found that it offers a cost-effective and scalable strategy for improving OHCA outcomes in high-density cities, where EMS cannot always provide immediate defibrillation.”
Densely populated Taipei has a excessive focus of meals supply (FD) scooter riders. To look at the feasibility of using these FD riders as first responders for AED supply in OHCA incidents, investigators performed a city-scale simulation utilizing real-world OHCA knowledge from the Registry of the Taipei Metropolis Fireplace Division between 2017 and 2019, public defibrillator places, and meals supply patterns and hotspots utilizing the Uber Eats platform.
The simulation assumed that each open restaurant in a hotspot had one FD rider ready and prepared to answer OHCAs inside a two-kilometer radius. FD riders’ response charges have been diversified, and simulated defibrillator arrival occasions have been in comparison with documented fireplace division supply occasions of six to seven minutes. Variations in defibrillator arrival occasions throughout peak and off-peak hours have been additionally assessed.
With a ten% FD rider response fee, the defibrillator arrival time decreased by 2.99 minutes, representing roughly 44% of the unique EMS response time. Within the simulation, over 60% of OHCAs have been efficiently attended. Attaining 80% protection throughout peak hours required 13.4% of FD riders to reply.
Based on co-corresponding investigator Albert Y. Chen, Ph.D., Division of Civil Engineering, Nationwide Taiwan College, Taipei Metropolis, Taiwan, “Integrating FD riders into the EMS system could reduce defibrillator arrival times, decreasing patient waiting time for defibrillation. This approach is particularly effective during peak hours, when a higher proportion of OHCAs can be addressed.”
“We were encouraged to see that even low response rates might yield meaningful time savings, and that the model appeared effective during off-peak hours despite reduced availability,” provides co-corresponding investigator Jen-Tang Solar, MD, MS, Division of Emergency Drugs, Far Japanese Memorial Hospital, New Taipei Metropolis, Taiwan.
Extra data:
Enhancing the Group Chain of Survival: A Simulation Examine of Defibrillator Supply by Meals Supply Riders in a Excessive-Density Metropolis, Canadian Journal of Cardiology (2025). DOI: 10.1016/j.cjca.2025.07.017
Quotation:
Leveraging meals supply providers to offer fast cardiac arrest response may save lives (2025, August 28)
retrieved 28 August 2025
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