Find your nearest defibrillator with Staying Alive app

Relaxnews

What should you do when a colleague collapses at work or when someone loses consciousness in the street? Defibrillators are now installed in most public places (train stations, streets, etc.) and workplaces, and can save lives in the event of cardiac arrest. An app-
lication, called “Staying Alive”,
lists 80,000 such devices worldwide, and lets users locate nearby devices via mobile geolocalization, which can help save precious time in an emergency.
Fast action is essential when someone is in cardiac arrest. Whether or not you’re trained in CPR, you can help out at the scene of an emergency by locating and fetching a defibrillator. These devices give high-energy electric shocks to the heart, which can help resuscitate someone in cardiac arrest, and are often installed in public places. Still, in an emergency, it can be difficult to know exactly where to look.
That’s exactly how the Staying Alive application aims to help save time when very minute counts. This free application is available in 17 languages for iOS and Android, and maps the location of defibrillators all over the world.
The app pinpoints some 80,000 defibrillators, showing users the nearest AED (Automatic External Defibrillator) to the site of an emergency, then the next nearest, and so on, at distances of 46 meters, 112 meters, 167 meters, etc. The app gives the precise address with information about opening times, and the exact location of the defibrillator “inside” or “outside” a building.
Users can add to the list
and update information, signal-
ing new device locations or repor-
ting problems (AED missing, incorr-
ectly positioned on the map, duplicates, etc.).
The application also offers an overview of lifesaving CPR techniques and emergency procedures (“Call, Start CPR, Shock and wait for help”), as well as emergency telephone numbers and advice on how to use a defibrillator.
In France, Belgium and Switzerland, users who have completed CPR training can even sign up as “First Responders.”
“You can then be notified by the EMS in case of cardiac arrest near you to provide CPR,” explain the application founders. This function is currently only available in those three countries.