On OpenStreetMap, there’s an emergency=defibrillator object. It can be tagged with information like opening hours (e.g. if it’s inside a location that’s only open certain hours), a description of the location (“at the front desk”), etc.
For example, on the Android/iOS app OsmAnd, you can select ‘Defibrillator’ as a point of interest (POI) Additionally, choosing ‘Healthcare’ POI type will show not just hospitals, clinics, etc., but also AED locations.
Other emergency devices, like emergency phones, are also mappable.
Why YSK: quick access to defibrillators can save lives and significantly improve quality-of-life outcomes. The more complete this data is, the more useful somebody can actually expect it to be in an emergency. Even if the data isn’t queried during the emergency, seeing it on the map could help users know where they are ahead of time.
Why is someone looking for an AED and not calling for an ambulance? Delayed ambulance response is more likely to result in death.
The person getting the AED and the person on the phone with emergency services might not be the same.
If I have to choose between going for an AED that is close by and I know the location of and calling for an ambulance, I’m going for the AED. If I can call the ambulance on the way, great, if not, I’ll call it after the AED is applied. Even better would be to dial emergency services on speaker while I’m doing CPR and send someone else for the AED.
Every minute your brain goes without oxygen your chances of survival goes down by 10%. CPR is your best chance of survival, and AED is your next best chance. An ambulance can do a lot of things, but even with EMS the best things they can do to improve survival rates are early defibrillation and good CPR, and even with great response times they’re probably several minutes out.
The ambulance has drugs that you and the AED don’t. Not every cardiac arrest is even shockable in the first place either.
Although even with all that, they will probably still die. Its just that having that stuff gives a small chance at survival.
I’m well aware of that. I do this for a living. But the AED and CPR still give a much better chance of survival than all the drugs in the world. Statistics don’t lie and there’s no bringing back someone whose brain has been deprived of oxygen for too long. I mean, you might bring them back to life, but they’ll be a vegetable in a nursing home for the rest of their life.