Emergency Aid Warriors on Call - Navigating the New Era of Life-Saving Apps
Nearby Assistance: Discovering How a Mobile Alert System Could Prevent Tragedies - Neighborhood Rescuers - the Life-Saving Potential of the Alert App
When time is ticking and every second counts, it's all hands on deck. That's the spirit that fuels volunteer firefighters at the Essen fire station. They're learning to be part of a growing network of lifesavers, armed with smartphones, first aid skills, and a pinch of luck.
Known as Emergency Aid Warriors, they'll soon be receiving simultaneous alerts via an app, aiding rescue services when they're close by a crisis. This innovative approach, pioneered by the Mobile Rescuers app since 2013 across Germany, is growing rapidly - but experts argue for a denser network to ensure its effectiveness.
Jump-starting hearts on the go
It's simple math: Out-of-hospital cardiac arrests affect over 120,000 people nationwide. Only one in ten survives, largely due to the average nine-minute response time of rescue services. First-aid apps, already prevalent in Scandinavia and the Netherlands, can bridge this fatal gap, according to the Björn Steiger Foundation.
When disaster strikes, every second counts. "After three minutes, the brain starts to die. We have to fill this void," explains Brand Inspector Jan Kuhlmann, spearheading the Mobile Rescuer training at Essen fire department. Influential cities like Essen have been utilizing this approach for years to bridge long distances and dense traffic, making each minute count.
Quality over quantity
Registered firefighters, nurses, rescue helpers, and doctors serve as Emergency Aid Warriors. However, a first-aid course for a driver's license isn't enough. "We need to trust that the person we send out can do the job," says Kuhlmann, highlighting the focus on technical procedures during training.
Since its introduction in 2019, Essen's over 1,000 helpers have been alerted over 1,900 times, with around 550 appearances at crisis sites - averaging a three-and-a-half-minute response time, often beating the rescue service.
A lit flashlight ignites an idea
The brainchild of emergency physician Ralf Stroop, the app came to life when he noticed a flashing ambulance in his neighborhood. The realization that he could help sooner, had he known of the emergency in time, sparked the idea behind Mobile Rescuers.
Patchwork of solutions
A number of imitators have emerged since, including Region of Life Savers in Baden-Württemberg, Corhelper app, and Schleswig-Holstein’s statewide system. Though each system differs in detail, they all share the goal of revolutionizing emergency responses.
But standardization is key
Currently, representatives of various providers are working towards establishing common standards: "Not everyone needs to use the same system, but the systems should be interoperable," says Mobile Rescuers CEO Stefan Prasse. Whether it's social media, joint activities, or success story-sharing, anything that keeps the project vibrant is possible.
Working towards legal integration
Emergency physicians encourage comprehensive and legal integration of these innovative lifesavers. "These apps are currently the most effective means of improving survival chances in cardiac arrest cases," says Clemens Kill, director of the Center for Emergency Medicine in Essen and chairman of the German Society for Rescue Services and Prehospital Emergency Medicine (DGRN).
For integration, potential legal avenues include mandatory coordination with emergency services, privacy and data protection enhancements, liability protection for volunteers, standardized training programs, and public awareness campaigns.
- Emergency Aid Warriors
- First Aid
- Germany
- Cardiac Arrest
- Firefighters
- Apps
- Life Savers
- Mobile Rescuers
- Scandinavia
- Netherlands
- Incorporating vocational training for first-aid skills, specifically for cardiac arrest cases, is essential to further strengthen the Emergency Aid Warriors, as observed in the success of the Mobile Rescuers app in Germany, similar to the examples in Scandinavia and the Netherlands.
- The health-and-wellness sector, particularly emergency medicine, can greatly benefit from science and technology, as evidenced by the development of life-saving apps like Mobile Rescuers, which integrates vocational training and community policy for first responders in Germany.
