---
title: "Life-Saving Drones Can Beat Ambulances to Heart Attack Victims"
description: "Swedish startup Flypulse has developed an automated drone that can deliver life-saving equipment four times faster than an ambulance."
date: "2017-06-15"
modified: "2017-06-15"
authors:
  - name: "Patrick Caughill"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/patrickcaughill"
url: "https://futurism.com/life-saving-drones-can-beat-ambulances-to-heart-attack-victims"
categories:
  - "Drones"
  - "Robotics"
  - "Robots and Machines"
tags:
  - "automation"
  - "drone"
  - "heart attack"
---

# Life-Saving Drones Can Beat Ambulances to Heart Attack Victims

![](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/drones.png>)
*\<em\>Image: \<a href="http://www.designboom.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/flypulse-defibrillator-drone-designboom-06-14-2017-fullheader.jpg" target="\_blank"\>Flypulse/Designboom\</a\>\</em\>*

## Life From Above

Drones are becoming a [ubiquitous technology](<https://futurism.com/heres-how-drones-are-going-to-utterly-transform-our-world>) with their increasing capabilities. Amazon is using them to [deliver packages](<https://futurism.com/get-your-first-look-at-amazons-new-delivery-drones>), Japanese innovators have created [pollinator drones](<https://futurism.com/japan-has-created-black-mirror-inspired-bee-drones>), and drones are even being used as [backup dancers](<https://futurism.com/lady-gagas-backup-dancers-were-actually-300-drones-from-intel>) for pop stars. There are even drones emerging that could help to save lives.

One such drone is being developed by [Flypulse](<http://www.flypulse.se/home/>), a Swedish startup working on an autonomous drone that can bring life-saving equipment to the scene of a medical emergency. Its has the ability to deliver Automated External Defibrillators (AED) at an incredible speed — four times faster than an ambulance.

![Image credit: Flypulse](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/flypulse-defibrillator-drone-designboom-06-14-2017-818-007.jpg>)
*Image Credit: Flypulse*

According to the [American Heart Association](<http://cpr.heart.org/AHAECC/CPRAndECC/General/UCM_477263_Cardiac-Arrest-Statistics.jsp>) (AHA), each year more than 350,000 people suffer from cardiac arrest outside of a hospital in the United States. Only 12 percent of victims survive through hospital discharge. To help battle this, the [AHA recommends](<http://cpr.heart.org/AHAECC/CPRAndECC/Programs/AEDImplementation/UCM_475254_AED-Programs-Q-A.jsp>) that the public has access to defibrillation. However, the AEDs are not cheap, so there could be a cost barrier to acquiring one.

## Savior Bots

Devices like Flypulse's LifeDrone-AED allow for first responders to get the technology to the victims long before they may be able to arrive themselves. Jacob Hollenberg, of the [Karolinska Institute](<http://ki.se/en/startpage>) in Sweden, set up the test for the drone. Hollenberg and his team reported in the[ journal of the *American Medical Association*](<http://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/2631520>) that the drone's average flight time was 5 minutes, 25 seconds, compared to the 22 minutes it took to dispatch an ambulance to the same locations.

Hollenberg said in [an interview with the *New Scientist*](<https://www.newscientist.com/article/2134473-defibrillator-drones-could-save-lives-before-ambulance-arrives/>), "If we can decrease the time in cardiac arrest from collapse to defibrillation by a few minutes, hundreds of lives would be saved each year."

The LifeDrone-AED is not the only potentially life-saving drone from Flypulse. The company is also developing the LifeDrone-WATER to aid in the location and assistance of drowning victims, as well as the LifeDrone-FIRE that will provide "fire and incident overview." Such technology could make a significant difference in communities around the world. These drones are just one example of the many ways drone technology is not only enriching our lives, but also preserving them.

### Author social links  
[LinkedIn](<https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrick-caughill-74178a61>)