A revolutionary app that can deploy life-saving care to heart attack patients has been launched in Northern Ireland.
If a person has taken ill in a public place, the GoodSAM app will alert qualified lifesavers within 500 metres of a cardiac arrest patient to administer initial first-aid while waiting for an ambulance.
The app, which can potentially provide help within seconds, is designed to increase the patient's survival chances which decrease by 10% for each minute that passes waiting on an emergency service response.
The Chief Medical Officer at the Department of Health, Dr Michael McBride, said: "This innovative integration of the GoodSAM app with vital services of Northern Ireland Ambulance Service and Community First Responders will contribute towards the establishment of a fully integrated emergency response service.
"This enhanced service will be able to provide the right care in the right place at the right time for the population of Northern Ireland and will hopefully see an improvement in survival for those whose lives might otherwise be lost."
The Northern Ireland Ambulance Service and Southern HSC Trusts have partnered with the GoodSAM creators to introduce the app here.
Currently in Northern Ireland, there are approximately 1,400 "Out Of Hospital Cardiac Arrests" and the survival rate is only 10%.
In 2015, the Department of Health launched a Community Resuscitation Strategy to combat fatalities and as a result a number of Community First Response Groups have been established in rural areas throughout the country.
NIAS Chief Executive Michael Bloomfield said: "NIAS is delighted to be at the forefront in introducing the GoodSAM app to Northern Ireland. We have seen the added value brought to pre-hospital emergency care by the dedicated Community First Response Teams in our more rural areas.
"GoodSAM builds on that capacity for NIAS to alert persons trained in CPR to life threatening emergencies in public places.
"I would encourage all suitably trained NIAS staff to consider downloading the app and making themselves available to be alerted to the call for help that will come via their mobile.
"Saving lives is our aim and we are happy to be involved with schemes that could potentially increase a patient's chances of survival following Cardiac Arrest."
GoodSAM allows volunteers, qualified in CPR, to register and to be included on a database of responders which is accessible to NIAS Emergency Ambulance Control staff.
Once a life-threatening emergency call is received, NIAS will dispatch an ambulance response as normal. But now, in addition to this, NIAS will automatically alert the five nearest responders within the 500 metre radius.
When a volunteer has received the alert they will be able to accept the call via the app and proceed by foot to the incident.
If for whatever reason the volunteer cannot respond, they can send a decline message and the alert will be sent to the next nearest volunteer.
From today, appropriately trained staff within NIAS, who have previously registered and been verified, will be available to respond to alerts. Others, within both organisations, will be able to register by downloading the app and completing the verification process.
Southern Trust Health Care Professionals and Community First Responders will be invited to register to be included on the database over the coming weeks.
It is hoped there will then be a phased roll out to include staff members of other emergency services, Health Care Trusts and the public between now and October 2020.
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