Smartphone Based Alerting of First Responders During The COVID-19 Pandemic

Background: Smartphone Alerting Systems (SAS) potentially reduce the resuscitation-free interval. Many of these systems invite lay persons, who a have been trained in Basic Life Support (BLS). The Freiburg alert system Region of Lifesavers (Region der Lebensretter, RDL) only registers first responders with a professional background (i.e. paramedics, nurses, physicians, medical students) and volunteers with at least 48 units training in emergency medicine. Here we describe the evolution of the RDL system during the pandemic.Methods: Due to a lack of personal protective equipment (PPE), the alert system had been stopped at the beginning of the COVID 19 pandemic on March 16th, 2020.The board of the charity organization operating RDL decided to design a concept for a safe restart. Following the raise of 34,000 Euros of private funds, 1,000 backpacks were equipped with FFP-2 mask, gloves, protective gown, safety glasses, mouth-nose protection, airway filter and ventilation bag/mask. Furthermore, the algorithm for first responders was adapted according to the ERC COVID guidelines. An online survey regarding volunteers’ willingness to help under different protective measures before, during and after the pandemic was conducted.Results: The system was restarted on May 26th, 2020. The number of volunteers newly registering for the system remained unchanged between 10 – 71 per month after restart of the system. The proportions of alarms with at least one first responder accepting among all activations of the system remained at approximately 50%, assuming that the volunteers being equipped with PPE felt safe during the COVID-19 pandemic. This was also confirmed by the results of the survey.Conclusions: During the ongoing pandemic, it is important to keep well-established first responder systems active, which can shorten the resuscitation-free interval. When PPE is provided for first responders, the readiness of the volunteers to remain active in the SAS is high.