Drone carrying a defibrillator saves its first heart attack patient in Sweden
A couple of comments here show confusion about who can use defibrillators and in particular whether a doctor is required. I thought I&#x27;d add my personal experience.<p>Specifically, I was defibrillated by bystanders when I had an out-of-hospital Ventricular Fibrillation episode. The staff at the UK building I was visiting had a defibrillator in their office and one of them had been on a training course.<p>When I collapsed with no warning, there was (according to my wife) about a minute of confusion and then one of the staff grabbed the defibrillator and used it. The device itself plays recorded instructions and itself conducts diagnostic tests to determine whether or not it should be used. If it can&#x27;t detect a treatable condition it doesn&#x27;t just blat you with electricity for the sake of it. If it can treat you, then it gives clear instructions to the users and delivers shocks as required.<p>In my case, the visitor centre staff had saved my life before the air ambulance arrived with trained medics. I was then flown to hospital where the critical cardiac care team confirmed that the bystanders had done exactly the right thing. They had also administered manual CPR which had kept my brain supplied with oxygen at the cost of two broken ribs. So here I am today writing this comment, thanks to the immediate availability of a defibrillator to bystanders.<p>I was lucky. My VF episode happened just as I had entered the lobby of the building that coincidentally contained the defibrillator. If I had been a 20 minute walk away, I would be dead (or brain damaged). Would a drone-based defibrillator have saved my life? Don&#x27;t know, but it would certainly improve my chances.