[Feasibility and timeliness of unmanned aerial vehicles-delivered automated external defibrillator in the emergency treatment of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest].
Zhonghua yi xue za zhi · 2026-01-20 · Method & validation
Abstract
To explore the feasibility and timeliness of using unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) to deliver automated external defibrillator (AED) for the emergency rescue of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA), a simulation experiment was conducted in the urban area of Jiaxing from November 2023 to November 2024. With the emergency rescue center as the center, 43 simulated OHCA events were randomly set within a radius of 6.5 kilometers. The distance and time indicators among emergency medical services (EMS), UAV-delivered AED, and public AED retrieval were compared. The results showed that the UAV flight distance [2.29 (1.21, 3.58) vs 3.10 (2.10, 5.30) km], flight time [266.0 (193.0, 344.0) vs (555.3±11.6) seconds], and response time [353.0 (272.0, 426.0) vs (597.2±210.0) seconds] were all shorter than those of EMS (all P<0.05). However, the UAV's activation time [(76.4±8.7) vs 40.0 (35.0, 51.0) seconds] was longer than that of EMS (P<0.05). The distance for retrieving public AEDs was shorter than the UAV flight distance [0.76 (0.40, 1.12) vs 2.29 (1.21, 3.58) km], but the retrieval time was longer [550.1 (286.6, 803.5) vs 353.0(272.0, 426.0) seconds] (both P<0.05). This study indicates that UAVs have a significant advantage in emergency rescue timeliness, and the integrated use of EMS, UAV, and AED is a feasible new model for OHCA emergency rescue.