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.
Well written and well explained! I knew just by reading your first sentence that you have or are riding in the back of the bus. From an old and thankfully retired medic - Glove up, be safe, and have fun out there! And who knows, your next page might be the coolest trauma ever!
I will add one bit of data for people to think about. If you witness an arrest and you immediately start CPR, patient survival rates are around 35%. I know that doesn’t maybe sound all that good. But if you wait for me show up in my amp-a-lamps with the woo woos and flashy flashies, then patient survival rates drop to less than 9%. It’s all you bystanders that save more lives with CPR than we do.
And if you ever need to do CPR, you go all in and do it like you mean it!
Thank you! I hope you’re enjoying your retirement! I’m currently an Advanced EMT working my way through that unique hell that is paramedic school :)
You got this! A paramedic is just someone that’s really, really good at EMT-B skills with a few extra toys.