I saw this sign in Kings Cross today.
Nice idea, but it fails in practice.
Here’s some data from UK charity, First Aid For Life:
“Currently less than 10% of people experiencing cardiac arrests in the community survive.” That’s pretty grim.
“CPR alone can double the chances of survival. When you use a defibrillator in addition to quality CPR, the odds of someone’s survival can jump from around 6% to 74%.” That’s an insane improvement in odds.
Yet “research has shown that deploying a defibrillator within 3–5 minutes of collapse can produce survival rates as high as 50–70%.” Yes the defibrillator is powerful, but it has to be deployed really quickly.
If someone had a heart attack in the Kings Cross square, I’m certain it’d take longer than 5 minutes to call the number and get the defibrillator to the site.
It’s a good lesson: we may design the solution with the best of intentions, but it’s all for naught if the solution has no chance at success from the outset.