Snapping photos can save lives!
We know automatic external defibrillators (AEDs) can save lives; the challenge is finding one when you need it. In cardiac arrest, a person will die within minutes without CPR and defibrillation.
Now, thanks to MyHeartMap Challenge, a project by Penn Medicine researchers, locating an AED in Philadelphia will eventually be as simple as checking a smartphone application.
Where are the AEDs?
The Penn Medicine contest, which kicks off at the end of January, challenges people to locate and document as many AEDs as possible in Philadelphia County. Using a free application on their mobile phones, contest participants will snap pictures of the lifesaving devices wherever they see them in the city and use the app to tag the photos with location information and details about the device, such as its color and manufacturer. Then they’ll send that information to the research team via the app itself or to www.med.upenn.edu/myheartmap, the project’s website. The MyHeartMap team will post clues on the website to help participants locate AEDs. “The clues will be in many different forms, such as Sudoku, poems, riddles, math problems and pictures,” said Raina Merchant, MD, MS, of Emergency Medicine, who leads this city-wide initiative.
The collected data will be used to create an updated app linking locations of all public AEDs in the city. “We’ll make the information available to the city’s 911 call system as well as to the public via a smartphone application,” which will provide GPS coordinates to help locate the nearest AED during an emergency.
Merchant hopes the contest is just a first step in what will be a nationwide, crowd-sourced AED registry project that will put the lifesaving devices in the hands of anyone ... anywhere ... anytime.
A Win-Win Competition
The benefits of participating are significant: saving lives, raising awareness, and educating the public. But there’s a monetary stake as well: The person or team who finds the most AEDs will receive a $10,000 prize. And participants who find the various ‘golden ticket’ AEDs will win $50. “They look no different than the other AEDs -- just take as many photos of AEDs as you can and send them in,” she said.
Challenge participants can register as individuals or teams, developing creative ways to maximize their chances of winning, for example, by using social networks via Twitter and Facebook to engage people to take photos of AEDs. Participants can also organize AED scavenger hunts or mini-contests to locate all the AEDs in a workplace building, or compete against friends to see who can find the most devices.
The Challenge, which combines the expertise of investigators from throughout the University and the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, runs six weeks, through mid-March. To learn more about the MyHeartMap Challenge -- or to register -- go to www.med.upenn.edu/myheartmap.
