Drone Delivery of Automated External Defibrillators to Lay Users (DAEDALUS): A proof of concept study

DAEDALUS (Drone Delivery of Automated External Defibrillators to Lay Users) is a research project exploring how drones can be used to deliver life-saving defibrillators to people experiencing a cardiac arrest.

Why this matters

A cardiac arrest is when someone’s heart suddenly stops beating. When this happens, blood stops flowing to the brain and body, and the person will quickly become unconscious and stop breathing normally.

In the UK, around 43,000 people have an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest each year. Sadly, survival rates are low with only around 1 in 10 people surviving. The most important factor is time. For every minute that passes without treatment, the chance of survival falls by approximately 10%. That’s why what happens in the first few minutes is so critical. However, survival can increase significantly when people nearby act quicky by calling for help, starting CPR and using an AED.

AEDs are designed for anyone to use. They give clear, step-by-step voice instructions and will only deliver a shock if it’s needed. When CPR is started early and an AED is used quickly, survival rates can increase significantly. Even though we know early bystander CPR and defibrillation increases someone’s chance of survival, it doesn’t always happen in time. Ambulances respond as quickly as possible, but they can’t always reach someone within those first critical minutes. Bystander CPR is essential, and the use of AEDs, which are available in many places, can be lifesaving, but they are not always nearby, easy to access, or widely known about.

Even when an AED is available, people may feel unsure about using it in a stressful situation. This means there is often a gap between what could save a life, and what actually happens in those first few minutes.

One idea to help close this gap is to use a drone to deliver an AED directly to the scene of a cardiac arrest. A drone is a small, unmanned aircraft that can be flown remotely or follow a programmed route. The aim is for a drone to bring a defibrillator close to the person who needs it, potentially before the ambulance arrives. However, speed alone is not enough. The AED must also be easy to find and use, with clear guidance to help people act confidently.

What the project is doing

This study is exploring how drones could be used as part of the UK’s 999 emergency response to deliver AEDs to people experiencing a cardiac arrest. Rather than just looking at how fast a drone can fly, we are focusing on the whole process. This includes how the drone is dispatched during a 999 call, how it arrives on scene, and how the person calling for help is supported to find and use the AED.

We are working closely with ambulance services, drone operators, airspace regulators, and members of the public to design and test this approach in a way that could work in real life.

A key aim of the study is to understand not just whether drones can arrive quickly, but whether the AED is actually used when it gets there.

Work Package 1 
Working with key stakeholders, including emergency services, drone operators, and the public, to design how drone-delivered AEDs should be integrated into the 999 response. This includes developing the process and testing it in realistic simulation scenarios to understand how it works in practice.

Work Package 2 – Understanding real-world use
Conducting interviews with members of the public to understand how people respond to drone-delivered AEDs, including their confidence, concerns, and willingness to use them in an emergency. Findings from these interviews will be fed back into Work Package 1 to refine and improve the design of the process.

Work Package 3 – Cost and impact
Assessing whether this approach could be cost-effective and what impact it could have on patient outcomes and the wider system.

Across all work packages, the aim is to make sure that AEDs are not only delivered quickly, but are used effectively when they arrive, and that the whole process works safely and reliably in practice.

Working in the real world

The project is being developed in partnership with emergency services, drone operators, and aviation regulators to ensure it works safely and can be adopted in practice. This includes working within UK airspace regulations and testing how drones can operate safely alongside other aircraft as part of future integrated systems.

Who’s involved?

This study is a collaboration between several organisations:

• University of Surrey – leading the research and bringing expertise in healthcare, technology, and innovation
• South East Coast Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SECAmb) – providing insight into how 999 calls are managed and how emergency care is delivered in practice
• Air Ambulance Kent Surrey Sussex (AAKSS) – supporting the project with specialist prehospital care expertise and enabling the drone delivery capability through their partnership with Everdrone, a company specialising in medical drone operations.

By working together, we are combining research, clinical practice, and real-world experience to design a system that could improve emergency care.

This study/project is funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Research for Patient Benefit (NIHR208149). The views expressed are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the NIHR or the Department of Health and Social Care.

The study has the following objectives:

1. Iteratively developing and testing protocols for the integration of drone-delivered AEDs into the 999-emergency response system
2. Evaluating public and responder perceptions, including barriers and acceptability, to ensure lay responders can effectively use drone-delivered AEDs.
3. Identifying and addressing operational challenges to ensure AEDs are deployed and applied quickly.