The Heartrunner system started as a research project
Early Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) saves lives. Since starting over 15 years ago, we have been open with our data to research studies. Three PhD thesis and over 30 studies have been published on data from the system during this time. Some of these studies are the reason international CPR guidelines since 2021 have recommended that volunteer responder systems be introduced in all countries.
Thousands of alerts and volunteer actions every year, an excellent basis for research
Throughout 2023, the Swedish and Danish PSAP services alerted volunteer responders to about 10,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests (OHCA) in Sweden and Denmark combined. In Sweden, one or more volunteer responders accepted alerts in 97,4% of the cases, and in 41% of the cases, they arrived before the ambulance. Today, over 300,000 volunteer responders are ready to help via the system in Sweden and Denmark.
The International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation (ILCOR)
ILCOR was established in 1992 and is a forum for interdisciplinary collaboration between the world’s leading resuscitation organizations. The ILCOR formulates international CPR guidelines, and its vision is to save more lives globally through resuscitation. www.ilcor.org
ILCOR repeatedly undertakes detailed literary reviews of the scientific evidence ahead of upcoming international guidelines for CPR. In 2020, ILCOR highlighted technologies supporting early life-saving interventions, such as volunteer responder systems. ILCOR recommends introducing such systems as a part of the ordinary care chain in all regions and countries. ILCOR is clear: ”We recommend that volunteers/individuals who are near an OHCA and willing to be engaged should be notified.”
The European Resuscitation Council (ERC)
ERC is an interdisciplinary council for CPR and emergency health care founded in 1989. The ERC aims to safeguard people’s lives by performing high-quality resuscitation for everyone. The ERC is a collective network of all European national CPR councils. www.erc.edu
ERC’s recommendations are the product of a comprehensive and systematic review of the research, which clearly shows that volunteer responder systems save lives. The proportion of victims who receive early CPR before the ambulance arrives positively affects survival rates. In its CPR guidelines, ERC recommends introducing systems that alert volunteer responders to OHCA in all regions and countries!
The Heartrunner system in Sweden and Denmark
Sweden – a strong heritage of more than 15 years of life-saving
Swedish researchers at Karolinska Institutet were among the first in the world to demonstrate the positive effects of alerting volunteer responders with CPR skills to OHCA. The results of a 2015 randomized controlled trial show that the number of cardiac arrest victims receiving early CPR before ambulance arrival increased considerably.
Research on the Heartrunner system in Sweden has been conducted at the Karolinska Institutet’s Centre for Resuscitation Science, the KTH Royal Institute of Technology, the Stockholm School of Economics, Linköping University, and Linnaeus University.
Among the first publications are the results from a randomized study in Sweden, published in 2015 in the New England Journal of Medicine. In the publications, the authors showed that in cases where volunteer responders were first to arrive on the scene, bystander CPR increased by 32%.
Denmark – volunteers run nationwide
In 2020, Denmark became the first country in Europe to implement a standard nationwide system named TrygFonden Hjerteløber. Danish volunteer responders can provide help anywhere in the country, and there are currently over 150,000 volunteer responders nationwide. A publication from Copenhagen reports that the number of OHCA victims defibrillated before an ambulance arrived tripled when volunteers were alerted and were first on the scene—from 7% to 21%.
Publications on the system in selection
Dispatch of Volunteer Responders to Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrests
Mobile-Phone Dispatch of Laypersons for CPR in Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest
A Smartphone Application for Dispatch of Lay Responders to Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrests
A Brisk Walk—Real-life Travelling Speed of Lay Responders in Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest
First Responder Engaged by Technology Systematic Review, ILCOR/COSTR
European Resuscitation Council Guidelines for Resuscitation 2021