For patients experiencing a suspected myocardial infarction, or commonly known as a heart attack, need immediate medical treatment. Many precious lives are lost all around the world due to delayed medical attention especially in crowded cities where Ambulances tend to get stuck in heavy traffic. Sweden has found an ingenious way to tackle the problem by coming up with a faster way of to treat people experiencing cardiac emergencies through a text message and a few thousand volunteers. In Stockholm, a medical program named SMSlivräddare (Swedish for SMSLifesaver) has been brought into being which seeks the help of local volunteers trained in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR).


When a resident of the city dials the emergency number seeking Ambulance service suspecting a heart attack, a text message is sent to all the volunteers within 500 meters of the patient. Volunteers arrive on the location within the crucial initial phase and give life saving CPR to the patient. For every minute lost the odds for surviving the cardiac arrest drops by as much as 10 percent. More than 9,600 volunteers have joined the program in Stockholm and an estimated 200,000 Swedes have completed the CPR training and could potentially be a part of the SMSlivräddare.

[Via – Textually]