New app aims to help save lives in emergency situations

An app that notifies nearby first responders in case of life-threatening events and provides guided CPR will launch in Cyprus this month, it was announced on Tuesday.

The health ministry called on businesses, organisations and individuals who have an Automatic External Defibrillator (AED) to register it with the Greek humanitarian civil society organisation KIDS SAVE LIVES ahead of the launch of the iSAVElives application on the island.

The KIDS SAVE LIVES technical teams, the health ministry’s competent services, the cardiology clinic of the Nicosia general hospital and the ambulance services are working to resolve technical and other issues to ensure the timely launch of the application in Cyprus.

This is expected in January, an announcement said.

Works started after the singing of a memorandum of understanding in November last year between Health Minister Michalis Hadjipantela and the president of the Greek humanitarian civil society organisation Anastasios Stefanakis.

But the effective implementation of the iSAVElives application in Cyprus, aiming to reduce the response time to life-threatening incidents, requires the assistance and awareness of everyone, the announcement said.

The application communicates with competent emergency services, alerts and mobilises first responders and provides them with navigation instructions to the victim’s location and the nearest available Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs).

It also leads bystanders through guided CPR using visual and audio cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

Businesses and other entities equipped with AEDs, a portable medical device designed to treat people experiencing a heart attack, can register it on the online national map hosted on the KIDS SAVE LIVES website at https://kidssavelives.gr/add-new-aed. Before doing so, AEDs should be checked whether they are functional and if the necessary consumables are available such as scissors, protective face mask and gloves.