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AHA: Digital strategies can improve emergency heart, stroke care
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Digital tools such as mobile devices, social media and crowdsourcing can play a key role in emergency care for cardiac arrest, MI and stroke, according to an American Heart Association scientific statement published in Circulation.
“When seconds count, early recognition of the symptoms ... and quick reaction can make a huge difference in whether someone lives or dies or has serious complications,” Raina Merchant, MD, MSHP, director, social media lab, Penn Medicine Center for Health Care Innovation, Philadelphia, said in a press release. “Digital platforms can support existing efforts to educate people about what to do in an emergency.”
Raina Merchant
Merchant and colleagues analyzed a number of studies. In one, Japanese researchers found when emergency personnel transmitted 12-lead images of ECGs by smartphone to cardiologists for interpretation, it cut the time needed to diagnose patients by 90 seconds.
In Sweden, there was an increase in CPR response (from 48% to 62%) from bystanders alerted via a smartphone application of someone having cardiac arrest within 500 m.
More than 90% of Americans have a mobile phone, with more than half being smartphones, according to the researchers. “Mobile-device apps can provide ... educational information about signs and symptoms ... and facilitate bidirectional information exchange between a dispatcher and ... bystander,” they wrote.
According to the scientific statement, many mobile devices have sensors to provide feedback on the quality of CPR being administered; the user must put the mobile device between the rescuer’s hands or on the patient’s chest.
Mobile devices can also be used for the acquisition, storage and transmission of ECGs, and more study is needed to determine whether wearable technology can contribute to improved outcomes in CV incidents, according to Merchant and colleagues.
“Social media has enhanced crowdsourcing, allowing individuals and groups to reach [others] in real time and real numbers,” they wrote.
“As many of these interventions are new and emerging, it is an optimal time to conduct rigorous evaluations just as are done for traditional medical therapies and interventions,” Merchant said in the release. – by James Clark
Disclosure: Merchant reports receiving research grants from Cardiac Science, Phillips Medical, Physio-Control and Zoll Medical. Please see the full statement for a list of the other researchers’ relevant financial disclosures.
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