AN innovative app which could save lives and improve cardiac survival rates across Wales has been launched.

The app, which is set revolutionise care in life-threatening emergencies, was launched in partnership with the Welsh Ambulance Service on Thursday.

The GoodSAM app and web based platform, alerts trained and verified emergency and first aid responders to nearby medical emergencies.

The app can speed up the response to life-threatening illnesses such as cardiac arrest. Response time is a critical factor in life Welsh Ambulance Service staff and community First Responders, sign up to be volunteer GoodSAM Responders.

Then, when a life threatening medical emergency call is received in the ambulance service control room, or through the GoodSAM app, an alert is sent to up the GoodSAM Responders nearest the incident.

The GoodSAM Responders are also able to determine the location of the nearest defibrillator through the app.

The system does not replace the role of the ambulance service, and its crews will still to be dispatched.

In 2016-17 the service attended over 5800 cardiac arrests, where resuscitation was attempted in 2832 cases.

The UK average shows less than 10% of patients survive.

For both trauma and cardiac arrest, the major determinant of outcome is time to treatment, and the sooner effective cardio pulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is started, the better the chance of survival.

For every minute delay, a patient’s chances of survival fall by 10%. If a defibrillator is available, patients are six times as likely to survive.

Greg Lloyd, head of clinical for the Welsh Ambulance Service, said: “We are delighted to be working in partnership with the GoodSAM team.

"The sooner effective CPR is started, the better the chance of survival for the patient.

"Getting a defibrillator to someone in cardiac arrest quickly, significantly increases their chance of survival."

“It is important to stress that the GoodSAM system is an additional resource to the emergency ambulance response, and not a replacement for it."

Co-founded by Professor Mark Wilson, neurosurgery consultant and London Air Ambulance doctor, and Ali Ghorbangholi, an electronic engineer, Big Data and Cloud architect.

The system operates in over 30 countries and is endorsed by the UK Resuscitation Council.

Professor Mark Wilson, GoodSAM’s medical director and co-founder, said: “If a patient has a cardiac arrest or a traumatic head injury, it is the first few minutes after the incident that determine the outcome – life, death, or long-term brain injury.

“There are first-aid trained people all around us, but usually the first they know of a neighbour having a cardiac arrest is when an ambulance appears.

"If they could know, and start CPR immediately, even the few minutes prior to the ambulance arriving, the chances of survival can be considerably increased."

Ali Ghorbangholi, technical director and co-founder said: “The technology has already been successfully integrated in UK Ambulance Services such as London, East Midlands and North West Ambulance Service and has more than proved its worth in saving lives.”