Inventors unveil drone for heart attack victims
German inventors unveiled a drone carrying a defibrillator on Friday which they hope will be able to save the lives of heart attack patients.
Every year 100,000 people die in Germany from heart attacks and the inventors hope that a drone will be able to deliver a defibrillator to revive the patient quicker than an ambulance.
Fredrich Nölle from technology group Definetz unveiled the prototype in Halle in North Rhine Westphalia. It has been designed to reach patients in remote areas and is activated by the emergency services or members of the public through a mobile phone app.
Germany’s emergency services union (DBRD) welcomed the invention but warned people to not get their hopes up. “We’ll have to see how much these drones can help,” Marco König from the DBRD said.
Nölle said the drone worked through the app which when activated would start the drone and bring the defibrillator to the GPS coordinates of the patient.
The downside is that the drone relies on someone being with the heart attack victim and having the app downloaded on their phone.
Nölle also said there were restrictions to flying drones in Germany, but added they were completely different to military drones which are giving the country’s defence ministry a headache.
The drone on display on Friday had eight rotor blades, a diameter of one metre and a flying distance of 15 kilometres. With the defibrillator it weighs 4.7 kg and costs €20,000.
DPA/The Local/tsb
Comments
See Also
Every year 100,000 people die in Germany from heart attacks and the inventors hope that a drone will be able to deliver a defibrillator to revive the patient quicker than an ambulance.
Fredrich Nölle from technology group Definetz unveiled the prototype in Halle in North Rhine Westphalia. It has been designed to reach patients in remote areas and is activated by the emergency services or members of the public through a mobile phone app.
Germany’s emergency services union (DBRD) welcomed the invention but warned people to not get their hopes up. “We’ll have to see how much these drones can help,” Marco König from the DBRD said.
Nölle said the drone worked through the app which when activated would start the drone and bring the defibrillator to the GPS coordinates of the patient.
The downside is that the drone relies on someone being with the heart attack victim and having the app downloaded on their phone.
Nölle also said there were restrictions to flying drones in Germany, but added they were completely different to military drones which are giving the country’s defence ministry a headache.
The drone on display on Friday had eight rotor blades, a diameter of one metre and a flying distance of 15 kilometres. With the defibrillator it weighs 4.7 kg and costs €20,000.
DPA/The Local/tsb
Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.
Please log in here to leave a comment.