Acute cardiac care & resuscitation
Cost-effectiveness of drone-delivered automated external defibrillators for cardiac arrest
Authors' conclusion
Drone-delivered AEDs were associated with reductions in response time, mortality and morbidity, and were found to be highly cost-effective relative to standard ambulance response with no drones.
Study context
- Population
- Out-of-hospital cardiac arrests in Ontario, Canada over 10 years
- Participants
- 22,017 out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCAs)
- Comparison
- Drone-delivered automated external defibrillators (AEDs) relative to standard ambulance response with no drones
- Drone networksn = 964
- Outcome
- Cost-effectiveness of drone networks
Methodological detailscomputational framework combining machine learning, optimization and a Markov microsimulation model
- Computational framework combining machine learning, optimization and a Markov microsimulation model
Main finding
As reported in the abstract
Networks on the cost-QALY efficient frontier
20
Further findings
| Outcome | Drone networks | Standard care | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Response time | Not reported in the abstract | mean 6 min 21 s | Drone networks: not reported in the abstract |
| Survival to hospital discharge | Not reported in the abstract | 8.4% | Drone networks: not reported in the abstract |
- Response time — Average drone response times shorter than standard care (efficient frontier)
- 32% to 71%
- Survival to hospital discharge — Increase across the 20 drone networks
- 21% to 46%
Cost per QALY gained, smallest non-dominated drone network (20 drones)
- Cost per QALY gained
- $20,912
Net monetary benefit
- All drone networks had higher net monetary benefit than standard care
Shockable and witnessed populations (subgroups)
- Cost-effectiveness was even greater
Sensitivity analyses
- Results robust to changes in modelling assumptions
Original publication
Cost-effectiveness of drone-delivered automated external defibrillators for cardiac arrest. Resuscitation. Published 17 February 2025. doi:10.
Summarised from the published abstract; every number is checked against it