While it’s still being trialed, a life-saving feature is being added into volvo cars to further-secure its position as the market leader in automotive safety. Volvo is trialing out an in-car AED (Automatic External Defibrillator).
The device in car defibrillator (which is portable) is being piloted in Netherlands and is linked with Heart RateNow, a national call system for resucitation by civil aid workers.
Upon reporting any case or sign of cardiac arrest to the national authorities, the authorities will contact any nearby Volvos equipped with an AED via the “Volvo On Call” system and navigated to the scene so that they can begin CPR with the assistance of the AED.
To be clear, the defibrillator will not be remotely operated. This is not a device that ‘shocks’ the driver out of cardiac arrest.
It will increase survival rate of civilians suffering from cardiac arrest, as statistics have shown that treating cardiac arrest with an AED and CPR within the first 6 minutes doubled the chances of survival. After the 6th minute we can assume the chances of survival decrease by 10% every minute.
Volvo Lifesaver has even been awarded a “wooden pencil”.
The judges had to say:
It’s a compelling piece of work from a brand that has hung its hat on safety. In this advert they have taken the safety you experience in a Volvo and extended it way beyond.
Kwame Taylor-Hayford, President & Co-Founder of Kin
Project Facts
- Over 17,000 people lose their lives every year in the Netherlands due to cardiac arrest
- Most of these cases are a result of slow-response times and a lack of defibrillation devices available
- Increasing the amount of defibrillation devices would be a minor solution but would not help with the slow response times
- Volvo Netherlands delagated a 9000 EURO budget to the project
- The company recruited 25 volunteers to trial the project
- The volunteers were all trained on how to respond correctly
In the end
It turns out over 200 people applied to become a part of the trial project. The project ended up becoming so popular that they’ve began talks with national authorities to make it public.
Once Volvo Lifesaver has succesffully implemented this program nationally the next step is to go international, though we no ETA has been provided as to when that may or may not be.