New app launched by ambulance service
ANEW mobile app which alerts trained people to medical emergencies has been launched by the Welsh Ambulance Service.
It is claimed GoodSAM will “revolutionise” care in life-threatening situations and radically reduce death from illnesses such as cardiac arrest.
The app works by asking Welsh Ambulance Service staff and community first responders to sign up as volunteer GoodSAM responders.
When a medical emergency call is received in the Welsh Ambulance Service control room or through the GoodSAM app, an alert is sent to up to three GoodSAM responders who are nearest the incident asking them to attend the scene.
The GoodSAM responders are also able to determine the location of the nearest defibrillator through the GoodSAM AED registry.
The system does not replace the role of the Welsh Ambulance Service, with its own crews continuing to be dispatched and respond in the normal way.
Greg Lloyd, head of clinical for the Welsh Ambulance Service, said: “We are delighted to be working in partnership with the GoodSAM team.
“It’s a well-established fact that the sooner effective CPR is started, the better the chance of survival for the patient.
“Getting a defibrillator to someone in cardiac arrest quickly significantly increases their chance of survival.
“Working with GoodSAM will give us an integrated approach to alerting our volunteer responders to a nearby cardiac arrest, where they can offer potentially lifesaving help. That will, undoubtedly, be a major asset.
“It is important to stress that the GoodSAM system is an additional resource to the emergency ambulance response and not a replacement for it.
“Our crews will continue to be dispatched and respond as emergency teams to reports of a patient in cardiac arrest in the way we already do.”
In 2016-17 the Welsh Ambulance Service attended more than 5,800 cardiac arrests where resuscitation was attempted in 2,832 cases. The UK average shows less than 10% of patients survive.
For both trauma and cardiac arrest, the major determinant of outcome is time to treatment, and the sooner effective cardio pulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is started, the better the chance of survival.
For every minute delay, a patient’s chances of survival fall by 10%. If a defibrillator is readily available, patients are six times as likely to survive.
By facilitating rapid administration of high-quality resuscitation by the community, the Welsh Ambulance Service says the impact of
GoodSAM is “potentially gamechanging” for cardiac arrest survival rates across Wales.
Co-founded by Professor Mark Wilson, neurosurgery consultant and London Air Ambulance doctor, and Ali Ghorbangholi, an electronic engineer, big data and cloud architect, GoodSAM has rapidly grown into a global community operating in over 30 countries and is endorsed by the UK Resuscitation Council.
Professor Mark Wilson, GoodSAM’s medical director and co-founder, said: “If a patient has a cardiac arrest or a traumatic head injury, it is the first few minutes after the incident that determine the outcome – life, death, or long-term brain injury.
“There are first-aid trained people all around us, but usually the first they know of a neighbour having a cardiac arrest is when an ambulance appears in their street.
“If they could know, and start CPR immediately for even the few minutes prior to the ambulance arriving, the chances of survival for that patient can be considerably increased. “GoodSAM now makes this possible, connecting those people who have the skills to the public in their minute of need.”
Ali Ghorbangholi, technical director and cofounder said: “The technology has already been successfully integrated in UK Ambulance Services such as London, East Midlands and North West Ambulance Service and has more than proved its worth in saving lives. Now the people of Wales are set to benefit from the innovative technology.” Thanks to funding from the Cabinet Office and Big Lottery Fund, it is anticipated the app technology will be operating UKwide by 2019.