Innovators of Things: Using IoT to make sure AEDs are always ready for an emergency

More than 400,000 people go into cardiac arrest outside of hospitals in the U.S. each year, and 30% of them happen in workplace and community settings. Those staggering stats make the more than five million automated external defibrillator (AED) devices found in US public settings a critical addition to public safety. However, over 20%, or about a million of these AEDs, may be in a failure state and won’t work in a sudden cardiac arrest emergency.

Readiness Systems, a leading AED program compliance expert, is working to reduce the number of unready AEDs. By turning each AED cabinet and mobile hard-case into a cellular IoT monitoring device, Readiness Systems detects AED failures and automatically alerts facilities when an AED is no longer ready for an emergency so AED owners can take action.

Turning AEDs into connected devices

Readiness Systems’ AED Sentinel Remote Monitoring System is one piece of the company’s complete AED program services suite. Readiness Systems offers technologies, services and resources to keep AEDs ready, help organizations properly prepare for sudden cardiac arrest emergencies, manage legal risks, and follow state law requirements.

AEDs have a status indicator so operators know when there is a problem – whether a dead battery, expired pads or a self-detected fault. While these status indicators are useful to operators, they are stationary within the AED cabinet and require physical checks to ensure each device is ready and able to operate.

AED Sentinel, a patented remote monitoring system, “watches” the AED status indicator and leverages cellular IoT connectivity to automatically alert owners when an AED is no longer ready to use and needs attention.

AED Sentinel in action

Connectivity is key to making sure AED Sentinel alerts operators of any failures. Stationary AEDs live in wall cabinets while mobile AEDs live in hard-cases that are on the move. In all environments, it is critical that cellular connectivity not be compromised.

When Richard Lazar, President of Readiness Systems, and his team went to install AED Sentinel in a school in Idaho, they walked in to find out they had no cell reception – they couldn’t even send a text message.

The team turned to Hologram. They found that Hologram SIMs connected immediately, bringing crucial connectivity to the school’s devices — even in remote areas. Now, the same school district is set up for automatic alerts and can keep their AEDs in compliance to be ready in case of an emergency.

In speaking with Richard, he shared that “Having a single device with worldwide connectivity is huge for us. With Hologram, we can manufacture one version of AED Sentinel hardware without worrying about where it will be installed.”

Hologram IoT SIMs are placed into each AED Sentinel hardware unit. Once the device is installed in an AED cabinet or mobile AED monitoring case, it automatically connects to the best available cellular network.

Turning to Hologram for reliable IoT coverage & connectivity

While these devices may often seem invisible, when they are needed, it’s critical they work. By turning AEDs into connected devices, Readiness Systems is hoping AEDs around the world are ready in the event of an emergency.