Hot Off the Press: Mobile Smartphone Technology Is Associated With Out-of-hospital Cardiac Arrest Survival Improvement.

Bystander CPR and early defibrillation are essential components of the out of hospital cardiac arrest chain of survival. The use of smartphone applications to direct trained first responders to nearby cardiac arrest victims, and to provide maps of local automated external defibrillators, seems incredibly promising. We discuss an observational study by Derkenne et al published in Academic Emergency Medicine, November 2020, looking at the experience of using the "Staying Alive" smartphone application to notify potential first responders of nearby out of hospital cardiac arrest victims. We provide critical analysis and summarize social media discussion about the article.