SKYAID
New 
Mission
Overview   
Details    
Medical   
Watch   
Heart attack  
Stroke    
World health  
Emergency
Cost effective
Media 
- Site Map 

SKYCAR   
Details   
Overview  
VTOL   
Airline   
Military   
Transportation
Images 
- Site Map

Search

Translate 
  8 languages
 

Skycars can save sudden cardiac arrest victims

                   see also updates AED-SCD-CPR file

A Skycar^TM* quick defibrillation response system can save 60,000 lives per year in US

There are currently 350,000 to 400,000 deaths in the US each year due to sudden cardiac arrest - it is the #1 cause of death in America as there is no means of quickly getting a defibrillator to victims.

A quick response system, based on a new air vehicle, the Skycar^TM, can reduce death from sudden cardiac arrest by bringing defibrillation to victims within 5 minutes of a 911 call. But the development of this system needs to be speeded up so that this lifesaving system can be deployed as soon as the Skycar itself becomes commercially available. This will require special funding.

Why so many die now

The likelihood of surviving a sudden cardiac death is reduced 10% for every minute the victim does not get heart defibrillation. The 911 emergency response vehicles are available to less than one half of the US population, and take 6 to 10 minutes to get to a victim. This is too long. Even when they can get there in time, 90% of the emergency response teams do not have defibrillator equipment, and so are only able to maintain some of the victims with CPR until a defibrillator team arrives. Because of the delay, currently only about 5% of sudden death cardiac attack victims survive.

Skycar as "super aid car"

The proposed quick response system is based on the Moller Skycar. The Skycar is a new type of small aircraft similar to a helicopter, that can take off and land vertically, hover, and fly horizontally at speeds up to 360 mph. Its unique configuration of 8 engines and advanced computer controls enable it to be flown easily with little training and safely in most weather conditions. It can take off and land from an area as small as a driveway or wide sidewalk. The Skycar is currently under development by Moller International, of Davis, California.

How the Skycar response system would work

A Skycar would be in the air at all times ready to respond to a call. When the call is received the Skycar would fly to and land at the scene in less than 4 minutes. The pilot and emergency medical technician would locate the victim and apply immediate life-saving automatic heart defibrillation within 1 minute. Once the patient is stable, he or she would be taken to a hospital by ground transportation. The Skycar would return to the sky where it would be instantly available to answer the next call. As shown on the maps below, a single 24-mile radius dispatch region would cover most urban areas in the US for this type of service, with additional Skycars available for backup and maintenance.

Seattle	New York	Dallas - Ft Worth

Skycars are not yet all-purpose medical response vehicles

Skycars in the future might also provide air ambulance service for other critical emergency medical calls. The results of heart attack and strokes can be reversed if victims are brought to the appropriate critical care centers in the less than 2 hours.

A Skycar response system would be cost effective, especially in urban areas

Not only would many lives be saved by a Skycar quick response defibrillation system, the cost would be very low. The system is expected to cost approximately $4 to $6 million annually for a urban region, depending on area and population coverage. Assuming 20% (21,000 to 2,800) lives saved per year per region with the Skycar system, the cost per life saved is estimated to range from $1,400 to $7,000. This is much less than the $1 million cost to save each life with an automobile airbag.

Costs: approx. $ 4 - 6 million annually for an urban region

Skycar Response system not cost-effective in rural areas

While 200 million Americans live in urban areas, 51 million live in rural areas. Although it is cost-effective to save sudden cardiac arrest victims in densely populated urban areas, the cost escalates 100 times in thinly populated rural areas. So it is doubtful that a Skycar quick response system would be used in a rural area unless it has a rich elderly population willing to pay for the service. Rural Skycar service can however cover all other emergencies.

The system would also have global benefits

The Skycar quick defibrillator response system will undoubtedly benefit many around the world. This heart-saving system is expected to expand quickly beyond the US borders to other major urban areas in Europe and Asia. Sudden cardiac death rates in other countries are very different than in the US (1,400/million): e.g., France 60% , Canada 80%, England 100%, Poland 140%, and Russia 330%. 

How costs were estimated

One Skycar would be in the air at all times. If not called, the Skycars would spell each other every 2 hours. Such a system would probably require having 3 Skycars to allow one Skycar to be off-duty for maintenance, repair, etc. Assuming 2 people per Skycar, we need a flight crew of 18 for 24hr/day, 7 day a week coverage. We assume that the dispatcher would be on the 911 payroll. There would also be 6 mechanics and other personnel. Assuming a total salary cost of $80,000 per person, this is a total payroll of $2 million. Most emergency medical systems have a total cost which includes maintenance, overhead, etc. which is double the salary cost. Therefore our initial estimate for the cost of the 3 Skycar system is $4 million per year.

How the number of lives saved was estimated

The Skycar response systems should be able to save at least 20% of the annual urban sudden cardiac deaths. This would save approximately 60,000 US lives annually. We assume that it will take approximately 15 years to augment the existing 911 emergency medical systems with Skycar response systems. Without special funding the Skycar response systems will not start in the US until the year 2015, as the Skycars will be used outside of FAA jurisdiction (e.g. foreign countries) until about 2010. The funding will enable starting Skycar response operation in the US as soon as 2007.

Funding needed for Skycar response system to save 500,000 lives otherwise lost

$7.5 million of grant or investment money is needed to speed development of the Skycar quick defibrillator response system. This money will save 500,000 lives - at $15 per life! These lives will not be saved if this system is delayed until after FAA approval is received. If delayed, the system would probably not be ready before 2015. If necessary funding is obtained, however, the quick response system can be developed concurrently with the Skycar, the FAA approval process speeded, and the system deployed as soon as the Skycar itself is ready, probably in 2007.

Funding would provide for the following tasks:

accelerate FAA approval for US operations

develop ways for the Skycar to be integrated with existing 911 systems

determine if there is a need to respond to non-heart attack calls - perhaps flying patients back

develop methods to rapidly land, even in areas of trees and wires

develop systems to home-in on cell phones or broadcasting heart monitors (e.g. Seiko)

About the author

Henry Lahore has been an engineer at Boeing for almost 20 years. In 1990 he investigated new opportunities for Boeing and studied the Moller Skycar concept. Boeing refused to consider manufacturing such a small aircraft, but he became very interested in the concept and has served on the Moller technical advisory board since the early 1990s.
You may contact him via e-mail or 206-898-9431.