吃瓜不打烊

Skip to main content

The independent source for health policy research, polling, and news.

Subscribe Follow Us
  • Trump 2.0

    Trump 2.0

    • Agency Watch
    • State Watch
    • Rural Health Payout
  • Public Health

    Public Health

    • Vaccines
    • CDC & Disease
    • Environmental Health
    All Public Health
  • Audio Reports

    Audio Reports

    • What the Health?
    • Healthcare Helpline
    • 吃瓜不打烊 Minute
    • An Arm and a Leg
    • Health Hub
    • HealthQ
    • Silence in Sikeston
    • Epidemic
    All Audio
  • Special Reports

    Special Reports

    • Bill Of The Month
    • Common Ground
    • Diagnosis: Debt
    • The Body Shops
    • Priced Out
    • Guns, Race, and Profit
    • Broken Rehab
    • Dead Zone
    • Denied
    • Opioid Settlement Tracking
    • Eleven Minutes
    All Special Reports
  • More Topics

    More Topics

    • Elections
    • Healthcare Costs
    • Insurance
    • Prescription Drugs
    • Health Industry
    • Immigration
    • Reproductive Health
    • Technology
    • Rural Health
    • Race and Health
    • Aging
    • Mental Health
    • Affordable Care Act
    • Medicare
    • Medicaid
    • Children’s Health
    All Topics

  • Medicare Advantage Billing Probe
  • School Vaccine Mandates
  • Weight Loss Drugs Coverage
  • Opioid Settlement Money
  • Abortion Pill Access

Morning Briefing

Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations

  • Email

Wednesday, Jun 14 2017

Full Issue

In Not Too Distant Future, Drones Could Be Used To Save Heart Attack Victims

When it comes to administering an electric shock to those in cardiac arrest, minutes can make the difference between life and death.

The best medicine for a person who goes into sudden cardiac arrest is an electric shock. That jolt temporarily stops the heart, along with its rapid or erratic beat. When the heart starts itself up again, it can revert to its normal rhythm and resume pumping blood to the brain and the rest of the body. The sooner this happens, the better. When a patient is shocked within one minute of collapse, the chance of survival is nearly 90%. But if it takes 10 minutes to administer a shock, the odds or survival fall below 5%. (Kaplan, 6/13)

More than 350,000 cardiac arrests happen across the U.S. in places other than hospitals each year, according to the American Heart Association 鈥 and a person's chance of surviving is about 1 in 10. Drone-delivered AEDs beat ambulance trip times to the scenes of cardiac arrests, the researchers say in a letter published Tuesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association. (Columbus, 6/13)

In fact, in some cases, drones could聽carry defibrillators to heart attack聽victims faster than an ambulance, according to a聽paper聽published Tuesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Researchers simulated emergency situations and found they could get automatic external defibrillators to the scene an average of 16 minutes faster by drone than by ambulance. If bystanders were willing and able to use the devices, the shorter response time could save lives, said lead author Andreas Claesson, a registered nurse. Restrictions on drones have limited their use in medicine. But that鈥檚 starting to change, Claesson said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e getting there 鈥 showing this save lives and costs,鈥 he added. (Blau, 6/13)

In other health IT news聽鈥

Former聽Apple聽CEO聽John Sculley, who had a famously hot-and-cold relationship with Apple founder聽Steve Jobs, says the next multibillion-dollar opportunity to change the world is in digital health care. Sculley has surfaced as chief marketing officer at the Southborough, Mass., startup聽RxAdvance, a cloud-based software company where he is working with founder and CEO聽Ravi Ika聽to disrupt the giant industry of managing pharmacy benefits. (Scully, 6/13)

Attendees at the American Diabetes Association鈥檚 Scientific Sessions in San Diego this year 鈥 many of them young researchers who are active on social media 鈥 were surprised to be greeted with the following: 鈥淭hanks for joining us at #2017ADA! Photography isn鈥檛 allowed during presentations 鈥 we鈥檇 appreciate it if you鈥檇 delete this tweet.鈥 For many, the essence of gathering at conferences is the sharing of scientific information, a peek at interesting research in progress. (Kopp, 6/13)

This is part of the Morning Briefing, a summary of health policy coverage from major news organizations. Sign up for an email subscription.
Newsletter icon

Sign Up For Our Newsletter

Stay informed by signing up for the Morning Briefing and other emails:

Recent Morning Briefings

  • Today, August 4
  • Monday, August 3
  • Friday, July 31
  • Thursday, July 30
  • Wednesday, July 29
  • Tuesday, July 28
More Morning Briefings
RSS Feeds
  • Podcasts
  • Special Reports
  • Morning Briefing
  • 吃瓜不打烊
  • Republish Our Content
  • Contact Us

Follow Us

  • RSS

Sign up for emails

Join our email list for regular updates based on your personal preferences.

Sign up
  • Editorial Policy
  • Privacy Policy

漏 2026 KFF