The feasibility of medical unmanned aerial systems in suburban areas.

Abstract

Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrests (OHCA) are one of the biggest challenges facing medical systems world-wide. Each year, more than 420,000 Americans experience cardiac arrests with a survival rate of approximately 10%.1 A large challenge to treating OHCA continues to be rapid access to AEDs which can increase survival rates up to 40%.1 While pivotal to an OHCA patient's survival, AEDs are not always readily available. Advances in unmanned aerial systems (UAS) - commonly referred to as drones - can provide a solution since UAS have the ability to rapidly carry an AED payload to an emergency site. This study examined the potential use of UAS delivered AEDs in suburban areas by using the Charlottesville-Albemarle area as an example. This study was carried out by using Geographical Information Systems mapping. Specifications of the Eagle drone model by Flirtey were used to develop a beneficial drone placement plan. Models were created with drones at first responder stations. Coverage area of the drones at first responder stations was compared to coverage area of drone units placed at "ideal" locations in the Charlottesville-Albemarle County area. Population statistics were gathered from the GIS program Social Explorer, using data from the U.S. Census Bureau. The "ideal" location placement plan was then evaluated for an estimate of total population covered by the system. Finally, ideal drone placements were evaluated and compared to response time and distances versus a local EMS ground unit. With the derived ideal placements, 70.08% of the area would have drone coverage that could deliver an AED in less than five minutes and 97.97% of the area would have coverage in less than 10min. At minimum, 94.72% of the population would be covered by the ideal placements of drones within the area. Drone response time was significantly faster than ground EMS response by a factor of 5× (P value < .05). Drones were able to get to the incident scene of a theoretical OHCA faster without and with vertical response challenges. The results show that UAS delivery of AEDs is not only possible in the Charlottesville-Albemarle County area, but an effective way to decrease response time to improve chances of survival for a person experiencing an OHCA in similar suburban areas.