Martin Ducret, doctor and journalist at Doctor’s Daily, tells us today about applications downloadable for free, on smartphones, which can save lives in the event of cardiac arrest.
franceinfo: Explain to us…
Martin Ducret: In the event of a cardiac arrest in the street, there are very often people to call 15, but unfortunately not always to perform cardiac massage, or to use a defibrillator before help arrives on site.
This is why, for several years, there have been smartphone applications like SauvLifewhich allow any volunteer who has downloaded it, and who is close to the cardiac arrest, to be alerted to come and carry out a life-saving action, while waiting for the SAMU to take over.
The next door neighbor, a nearby doctor or a simple passerby who has the application in their pocket, can be alerted, guided by GPS, and intervene on the victim. And you don’t necessarily need specific training, the SAMU will guide you by telephone.
Moreover, a recent study showed the effectiveness of these applications?
Yes, a European study on nearly 10,000 patients, victims of cardiac arrest outside the hospital, half of whom benefited, in their care, from the implementation of a SauvLife type application. Ultimately, when the alert application was activated, the 30-day survival rate of victims increased by 2.5%. And 2.5% doesn’t seem like much, but that’s 112 people out of 4,600 who were able to survive, that’s huge.
“The SauvLife application has saved 675 people since its creation, Professor Lionel Lamhaut, emergency doctor and founder of SauvLife, told me. But it’s still not enough! Of the 50,000 cardiac arrests per year in France, only 5% survive, while in certain countries in Northern Europe, it is 40%.”
The explanation for this delay is explained by the lack of awareness and training of the French, when faced with cardiac arrest. Too many people are still afraid of doing something wrong, of breaking a rib for example. And when we know that every minute without massage is 10% less survival, and that help takes on average 13 minutes to arrive, it is better to do a cardiac massage poorly than to do nothing, because every minute counts !
In fact, anyone can help save a life, and an app like SauvLife will help you greatly, so it’s time to download it.