Orlando, June 18, 2019 – Too often life-saving medical data isn’t available to first responders during emergencies. A new collaboration between the American Heart Association, the leading voluntary health organization devoted to a world of longer, healthier lives, and emergency technology company, RapidSOS, will help solve this issue by teaming up to promote a voluntary registry for citizens to share data with 911 and first responders. People can provide opt-in profile information and individual health data, personalizing care and positively transforming emergency outcomes.
“Heart disease and stroke are the 1st and 5th leading causes of death in the United States. If emergency medical responders had access to a patient’s medical information when arriving on-scene, this could dramatically change the way in which care is delivered and tailored to the person’s medical needs,” said Michael Kurz, MD, chair of the American Heart Association’s Systems of Care Subcommittee and associate professor at the University of Alabama School of Medicine in the Department of Emergency Medicine. “Delays in recognition and treatment of time-sensitive conditions like heart attacks, strokes and cardiac arrest can be the difference between life and death. RapidSOS may help us close the gap between emergency medical response and patients, resulting in better and more efficient emergency care.”
Actionable Medical Information in the Hands of Emergency Services
Public safety professionals are trained to respond as quickly as possible to medical emergencies, but our nation’s 9-1-1 system was built over 50 years ago for landlines phones, making it nearly impossible to digitally send any data to 9-1-1 and first responders. The result is that callers need to verbally relay personal and contextual information to the 9-1-1 telecommunicator in order to get appropriate care. During cardiac arrest, every minute that passes without CPR and defibrillation decreases the chances of survival by 7-10%.
The joint solution with RapidSOS will provide patient medical and personal information directly to public safety personnel during a 9-1-1 call at no cost. This will, enable a data-driven and situationally-aware emergency response which can reduce the time to diagnosis and treatment. Examples of data transmitted will include information on medical history, allergies, medications, medical devices and emergency contacts.
Individuals will be able to submit their selected information through a secure database for the exclusive access of authorized 9-1-1 agencies. As long as a 9-1-1 center has access to RapidSOS, they will be able to see the data, anywhere in the country. You can sign up for early access here.
“Seconds save lives during emergencies and providing responders with medical information for a patient can make all the difference in the outcome of an incident,” says Michael Martin, CEO of RapidSOS. “Legacy 9-1-1 infrastructure, however, does not connect first responders with the medical data they need to provide the best possible care. We are thrilled to work with the American Heart Association to make patient health data available to emergency medical professionals through modern emergency infrastructure.”
"RapidSOS and the American Heart Association are giving emergency professionals access to critical information to effectively respond to medical emergencies," said Dr. Francesca Dominici, Co-Director of the Data Science Initiative at Harvard University. "This work will produce more efficient, better prepared medical response, saving lives."
Access for Any Public Safety Agency Nationwide
Public safety agencies can access supplemental life-saving inf