A watch that detects when its wearer suffers cardiac arrest and immediately informs the emergency services. That is what the Catharina Hospital wants to develop in collaboration with TU/e.
Philips, the University of Tilburg, and the UMC Amsterdam are also collaborating on the project that the Dutch Heart Foundation is supporting with one million euros. The smartwatch should save the victims when they are alone at the time of a cardiac arrest.
“The watches use sensors that can measure whether the heart is still beating or whether someone is falling,” says Prof. Lukas Dekker, a cardiologist at Catharina Hospital. “By means of GPS technology, we are able to see where someone is, and emergency services can be provided with the patient’s exact location instantly. Through these ‘smart watches’, we hope to contribute to the chance of survival in the event of a cardiac arrest when someone is alone,” said Dekker.
’60 percent alone’
People who go into cardiac arrest outside the hospital would be alone in 60 percent of cases, according to research. That’s more often women than men – possibly because older women are more likely to live alone.
False alarm
Dekker informs that the parties involved in the project do fear false alarms from the watch. “Of course, we are also going to work on minimizing false notifications, false alarms in other words. Finally, we also expect that it could help when victims are not alone because then help will arrive sooner. Every second counts in such a situation” says the cardiologist.
Source: www.studio040.nl
Translation: Chaitali Sengupta. She also gives online INBURGERING classes.
