

Uber 911 - minch
https://medium.com/invisible-balloons/uber-911-5d28d7428de6

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greenyoda
I'm not sure it's valid to compare Uber's response times to EMS's response
times. An Uber cab can pick you up just by stopping in front of your building.
But if you have a heart attack while in your apartment, an ambulance crew
accomplishes nothing by pulling up in front of the building. They need to get
into the building, go up to the floor on which you live (it may be a 5th floor
walk-up, or the elevator may be out of service) and into your apartment, while
carrying their gear. They also can't discourage you from calling an ambulance
during peak traffic times by doubling their rates.

 _" Starting with SCA, Uber can begin to save millions of lives a year. It
simply needs to mandate all its drivers to carry one automated external
defibrillator (AED) and to go through the American Heart Association’s brief
(only 4 hours) CPR and AED training course."_

If you were having a heart attack, would you want your first responder to be
an Uber driver with 4 hours of training or a qualified EMT? Would you trust
the Uber driver to keep the batteries in his AED charged? Would Uber or the
driver want to assume the potential legal liability of causing someone's
death? What if you thought you had a heart attack but really had some other
problem, like a stroke, in which case zapping you with an AED could cause
additional harm?

By the way, I looked up an AED on Amazon, and it costs about $1000. If every
potential Uber driver had to buy one of those, Uber would have a hard time
finding drivers.

 _" With more investment, the emergency wait time can be slashed even further
if Uber also finds the right partnerships to enable emergency lighting and
sirens on its vehicles."_

You can't just put lights and sirens on a vehicle and expect them to be able
to drive safely through red lights. The driver needs to be trained in how to
do that. In NYC, I've frequently seen drivers not stopping to let a huge fire
truck with blaring sirens through an intersection, so it's pretty hard to do.
No city would let untrained people try something like that - too much risk of
death and lawsuits.

~~~
minch
Yes, the so called "vertical response time" is still a factor to be
considered, though I'd argue this stage is on equal footing as in the case of
actual paramedics, assuming the Uber drivers are given a clear mandate to
enter the environment in these scenarios.

Regarding your point about whether drivers could really become qualified, I
see no reason why not. CPR/AED training exists for a reason, and it has saved
many lives. There is also precedent of providing emergency AEDs for civilians
to operate in these life or death cases. See the typical high school gym,
which will likely sport an AED. Perhaps it wouldn't be every driver's cup of
tea, but I can see many drivers sign up if well-designed incentives are put in
place.

Will drivers confuse symptoms of SCA with stroke? That's why they would be
required to go through AHA's training course. You're right that AEDs can cost
around $1000. Consider this in the context of how cars cost many times more
than this amount. Further, the cost can be subsidized by Uber, as Uber stands
to benefit financially when they save someone's life.

I agree with you that there is a lot of leg work required to make the further
optimization of emergency lights/sirens. That would be something that comes
later, and perhaps not necessary given that the median wait time is already
under 3.5 minutes.

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Gustomaximus
Great concept. Anything to get faster first assistance to an emergency is
great though it seems like a bridging technology as I'm guessing airborne
drones will take this role in the not too distant future. It would be
interesting if a car with medical kit will get pinged if it has a passenger?

