The concept is simple. Various organizations have made Automated External Defibrillators (AED) available, but no one has mapped out where they are all located. Consequently, that potential life-saving location information is not available for use on modern smartphones. The University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine is out to change that in Philadelphia with its "My Heart Map Challenge". Modeled after the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) 2009 red balloon challenge, here's how the program works:
Armed with a free app installed on their mobile phones, contest participants will snap pictures of the lifesaving devices -- which are used to restore cardiac arrest victims' hearts to their normal rhythm – wherever they find them in public places around the city. Participants will use the app to geotag the photos with their location and details about the device like its manufacturer. Then, they'll send them to the research team via the app itself or the project's web site. The data collected will be used to create an updated app linking locations of all public AEDs in the city with a person's GPS coordinates to help them locate the nearest AED during an emergency.The person or team that finds the most AEDs during the month long contest, wins $10,000.
- To read the news release on this effort, click here.
- To go to the My Heart Map Challenge website, click here.
Comment: There's only one word for this effort: Brilliant!
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