The American Heart Association announced a collaboration with New York City-based RapidSOS to establish a voluntary registry providing digital health data to 911 dispatchers and emergency medical responders.
If a citizen chooses to add their profile information and medical data to the secure database, should they ever require emergency attention, that information will be automatically and immediately shared with emergency personnel during a 911 call. Requested data includes medical history, allergies, medications, medical devices and emergency contacts.
"If emergency medical responders had access to a patient's medical information when arriving on-scene, this could dramatically change the way in which care is delivered and tailored to the person's medical needs," said Michael Kurz, MD, chair of the AHA's Systems of Care subcommittee and an associate professor at the University of Alabama school of medicine's department of emergency medicine. "Delays in recognition and treatment of time-sensitive conditions like heart attacks, strokes and cardiac arrest can be the difference between life and death."
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