Life-saving 'app' for iPhone

Almost 2,500 people (mainly UK doctors) downloaded it in the first week and since then it has been downloaded at a rate of more than 1,200 per week.

In collaboration with the Resuscitation Council (UK) and iMobileMedic.com, Dr Daniel Low, consultant anaesthetist, produced the application, which guides the user when resuscitating critically ill patients in cardiac arrest or near cardiac arrest.

Although clinicians are trained to know what to do when someone suffers a cardiac arrest, this application functions like a check list and has been built in the context of a clinical scenario. Depending on the age and condition of the patient, the user follows certain prompts to remind them of what to do.

A more basic version can also be downloaded and used by people with first-aid training or those who are community responders.

Low’s invention was inspired by working alongside ex-military, air-ambulance helicopter pilots. He saw that, during in-flight emergencies, these highly trained airmen would refer to instruction cards, or flight reference charts, which guided them through the crisis and helped to reduce the margin for human error. Low realised that a similar system could also assist medics when they are faced with a cardiac arrest.