iPhone App now sends users nearby a cardiac arrest a notification

[Bieber]

I don't really see the point. If someone has already called 911, then dispatch can walk the caller through CPR.

Inviting people to an emergency is like inviting people to an emergency. (And the last I checked, EMS/Fire/PD were the only ones who got an RSVP.)

 

[Amycus]

If I'm at a real, honest-to-God emergency such as a code, the first thing I'm doing is telling bystanders and lookie-loos to get the eff out of my way, then ask/instruct the police to remove the bystanders ASAP. CPR helps a great deal when it's done properly. The shock is most important. The last thing ANY of us need are a bunch of whackers on scene who want to contribute their two cents because they took a hands-free CPR class or because they saw a few episodes of House or ER.

edit: Also, upon reading the news article, it's absolutely hysterical this article offers a picture of an iPhone, begging for CPR assistance...for those having a heart attack. There's a MAJOR MAJOR difference between a heart attack and actual cardiac arrest. If you do CPR on someone having a heart attack you're doing way more harm than good. The publisher of this article should have googled the difference to begin with.

 

[medicRob]

I prefer mapping all my cardiac arrests in Foursquare... You get more points and prizes that way.

 

[medicRob]

Just downloaded this app on my iPAD.. Some screenshots (Trying to hold in my laughter, I promise I am)

The only guy who will get any use out of this app:

 

[LucidResq]

Dear god. Hahaha. It seriously has fire alarms and basically every call in the city?

 

[JJR512]

OK so everyone is joking around about what this program means right now but is anybody concerned about the possible future this could lead to?

Imagine this: You are just sitting home to dinner one evening when a Deputy Sheriff shows up at your door. He has a summons for you. You have been ordered to appear in court; you are being sued by the widow of an MI patient. Turns out this guy had a heart attack and set off his iPhone alarm. The "system" knows that you have this app installed on your iPhone and that it notified you there was a "medical emergency" in your area, but you didn't respond to it. So now you are being sued for failing to provide assistance that could have saved the guy's life.

Does this really seem all that far-fetched to you?

 

[rwik123]

OK so everyone is joking around about what this program means right now but is anybody concerned about the possible future this could lead to?

Imagine this: You are just sitting home to dinner one evening when a Deputy Sheriff shows up at your door. He has a summons for you. You have been ordered to appear in court; you are being sued by the widow of an MI patient. Turns out this guy had a heart attack and set off his iPhone alarm. The "system" knows that you have this app installed on your iPhone and that it notified you there was a "medical emergency" in your area, but you didn't respond to it. So now you are being sued for failing to provide assistance that could have saved the guy's life.

Does this really seem all that far-fetched to you?

Unless there is any explicit law stating that people who have the app, have "duty to act", this wouldn't happen I don't think.

 

[JPINFV]

Unless there is any explicit law stating that people who have the app, have "duty to act", this wouldn't happen I don't think.

Basically this. I have no more duty to act when off duty for a cardiac arrest than any other call.

 

[rwik123]

Basically this. I have no more duty to act when off duty for a cardiac arrest than any other call.

Yea. There's currently no law regarding this app, nor will there ever be. In no way does the app tell you or instruct you to go to the incident. In a sense, it's a glorified visual scanner with more information, that in my opinion, shouldn't be available to the masses. The person who called 911 in the first place can't initiate CPR? Or do we need some dude across the street in the adjacent stripmall hauling *** over to the scene. How the fire department is backing this troubles me to begin with. For someone to call 911, there are already people on scene to begin with. Durrr

 

[JJR512]

Yea. There's currently no law regarding this app, nor will there ever be.

There's currently no law. Currently. And neither you nor anyone else can say for sure that something will never happen. Nor does there necessarily need to be a law about something for someone to be able to sue you. I didn't say that someone was going to win this lawsuit, just that they were going to file one.

In any event, I'm not saying that this scenario is going to happen, or even that it's particularly likely. Just something that maybe someday might be possible.

 

[LucidResq]

There's currently no law. Currently. And neither you nor anyone else can say for sure that something will never happen. Nor does there necessarily need to be a law about something for someone to be able to sue you. I didn't say that someone was going to win this lawsuit, just that they were going to file one.

In any event, I'm not saying that this scenario is going to happen, or even that it's particularly likely. Just something that maybe someday might be possible.

There's a difference between criminal and civil matters. You don't get a cop hauling you in or ticketing you for civil lawsuits. Civil issues coming up.. Yeah maybe I guess.. If the company makes information about its users public like that. Boo on them in that case, and don't download it anyways. Otherwise I agree... Its like a scanner for dummies that just makes emergency scene tourism and whackerism more accessible.

 

[18G]

When I first heard about this app on one of the tech sites, I was really intrigued by it and thought it was a great use of technology. I think the concept is awesome! How practical it will actually be is a different story.

I for one do not carry a pager with me like some when I am not working. So, if I'm at a restaraunt or some other place and I see an arrest is happening in the Mall or some other place within walking distance and I can get there within a minute or two, how is that not a great thing? Given the fact that treatment of cardiac arrest is so time dependant we need to look at every avenue possible to decrease the time of arrest to treatment.

Given the hesitency of the general public to get involved in a strangers medical care I highly doubt your gonna have twenty people showing up to give a hand. But one or two would be a good thing. If it were someone you knew you wouldn't want someone showing up to buy precious time?

Nice concept... lets see how it works out.

 

[johnmedic]

If there was some check for the app to ensure that only legitimate cardiac arrests or whetever "emergencies" were reported, I'd believe that a lawsuit would be in the future.. But if anyone can use the app to report an emergency, I have a feeling that some 14 year olds screwing around after school are gonna flood the map with incidents & either just watch people looking for a patient, or pretend to actually be a patient. You have no reason to believe that any reported arrests on the iphone app are actually happening.

 

[HotelCo]

If there was some check for the app to ensure that only legitimate cardiac arrests or whetever "emergencies" were reported, I'd believe that a lawsuit would be in the future.. But if anyone can use the app to report an emergency, I have a feeling that some 14 year olds screwing around after school are gonna flood the map with incidents & either just watch people looking for a patient, or pretend to actually be a patient. You have no reason to believe that any reported arrests on the iphone app are actually happening.

It's actually the fire department putting out the notifications.

.

 

[johnmedic]

Noted, thanks.. Yeah, that's definitely a duty-to-act lawsuit waiting to happen. & an instant guilt-trip everytime you put your phone on silent or leave it off. Idk if I'd use the app & I've always considered myself a pager-gazer.

 

[Melclin]

Awesome from a tech point of view, clearly ridiculous from an EMS/everything else point of view.


This particular app aside, I can see some sort of iPhone magic being useful for getting AEDs to the arhythmically challenged with a tad more haste.

The biggest problem I see with public access AEDs is that by the time somebody remembers it, goes and gets it, has to find the key to the first aid room, comes back, trips over, and fumbles about with the AED, the coroner is ready to release their findings on the death.

Still, I don't see how iPhones could achieve more that what a couple of security/staff could do with their radios. Additionally, they could probably do it without their radio's freezing and asking if they want to upgrade to the identical radio 2.0. <_<

'Course, if it was a Windows phone, you'd get an annoying message saying, " You seem to be attempting a resuscitation, would you like to know the location of #req%-serv//Steakhouses?"

 

[jjesusfreak01]

The biggest problem I see with public access AEDs is that by the time somebody remembers it, goes and gets it, has to find the key to the first aid room, comes back, trips over, and fumbles about with the AED, the coroner is ready to release their findings on the death.

Ideally, AEDs should be stored where they can be easily seen and quickly accessed without need of keys or codes.

 

[Melclin]

Ideally, AEDs should be stored where they can be easily seen and quickly accessed without need of keys or codes.

Ideally. Most venues I've been to with an AED have had it locked in a box, upstairs, around the corner and behind several boxes of old Christmas decorations.

 

[HotelCo]

Ideally. Most venues I've been to with an AED have had it locked in a box, upstairs, around the corner and behind several boxes of old Christmas decorations.

Back when I was in high school, the school officials were very proud that we had an AED. They put up signs, and taught all the teachers how to use it. Of course, the AED was in a locked cabinet, inside of a locked room, inside of the locked gymnasium... but hey, we had one. :wacko:

 

[jjesusfreak01]

Back when I was in high school, the school officials were very proud that we had an AED. They put up signs, and taught all the teachers how to use it. Of course, the AED was in a locked cabinet, inside of a locked room, inside of the locked gymnasium... but hey, we had one. :wacko:

Which makes it totally useless. Although AEDs are expensive, i'm not sure how much of a black market there is for them. Put it in an alarmed box in a public place, and you're set.