iPhone App now sends users nearby a cardiac arrest a notification

[Melclin]

Which makes it totally useless. Although AEDs are expensive, i'm not sure how much of a black market there is for them. Put it in an alarmed box in a public place, and you're set.

I'm not sure the people who steal AEDs think it through that much.

"Grab that ambulance bag, we'll get wasted on their morphine inhalers".

 

[Jon]

I'm of mixed feelings. Depends on what the proximity alert is... and that still isn't clear.

I think there is potential for great things here... but this could also be full of epic #Fail

 

[LucidResq]

The biggest problem I see with public access AEDs is that by the time somebody remembers it, goes and gets it, has to find the key to the first aid room, comes back, trips over, and fumbles about with the AED, the coroner is ready to release their findings on the death.

Still, I don't see how iPhones could achieve more that what a couple of security/staff could do with their radios. Additionally, they could probably do it without their radio's freezing and asking if they want to upgrade to the identical radio 2.0. <_<

We have some addresses flagged with the exact location of an AED... but not nearly enough. There's an effort in a nearby city to make a comprehensive database of where all the AEDs in public are, so 911 calltakers can easily direct a caller to the nearest one. I think such a database and having well-prepared security would do much more than members of the general public fumbling with their cell phone.