Mobile AED Response System Helps Save Lives During Japan Road Races
A research team from Kokushikan University developed a mobile AED system that provides early CPR and AED intervention for runners who might encounter cardiac arrest during road races.
The system consists of mobile teams (paramedics on bicycles and carrying AEDs) and on-foot teams (paramedic trainees who carry AEDs and can provide basic life support). The system also includes medical communications dispatchers, first-aid staff and physician volunteers who run the race and can assist if needed.
Between 2005 and 2017, researchers used the system to support 251 road races. During those races, 28 of 30 runners who had a cardiac arrest were successfully resuscitated.
