As part of its work to revolutionize emergency response to cardiac arrests, Hovecon seeks information from companies with drone delivery solutions for Automatic External Defibrillators (AEDs). This work is part of the RESTORe-CARE Drone AED Delivery Program led by Duke University School of Medicine and funded by an American Heart Association (AHA) grant.
Details of the required capabilities and submission requirements are outlined in the Request for Information (RFI) issued today. Responses must be received by Project Engineer Ben Spain via email to ben.spain@hovecon.com no later than March 15, 2024.Â
Annually, over 350,000 individuals experience a life-threatening event known as sudden cardiac arrest. Surviving a cardiac arrest is challenging, yet prompt medical intervention, such as CPR and the deployment of an AED, can increase survival chances. The American Heart Association states that 90% of cardiac arrest victims who are shocked by an AED within the first minute survive. Currently, emergency responders take approximately 8-10 minutes to reach most patients suffering from cardiac arrest outside of a hospital setting.
The RESTORe-CARE Drone AED Delivery Program aims to reduce emergency response times, particularly in rural areas where access to medical care is limited. Early results from Duke University led research sponsored by the National Institutes of Health show that response times can be reduced enough to meet the critical five-minute resuscitation window when using a drone.
“We are excited to see which drone delivery solutions can potentially support our research and ultimately improve outcomes for sudden cardiac arrest in rural America,” said Hovecon President Rebecca Yap. “We are fortunate to be a part of this grant which will lay the framework for AED drone delivery nationwide.”
Hovecon will host a vendor demonstration day for interested RFI respondents, to allow research partners, including Duke University School of Medicine, Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) Medical Center/Medical College, Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office, and James City County Police Department. The event is tentatively planned for March 27, 2024, in Winston-Salem, NC. To learn more, sign up at http://tinyurl.com/AEDDeliveryDemo to receive event details. Download the RFI from http://tinyurl.com/AEDDeliveryRFI.
