For persons who have a cardiac arrest (heart does not pump any blood) surviving this requires that the heart be restarted as soon as possible. In fact, if even more than 3 minutes elapse without a functioning heart, then the odds of surviving are slim. Even more sobering: With a delay you might survive but your brain might be gone.

Thus every second counts. AEDS are devices which can determine whether the heart needs to be shocked back into a normal rhythm and then can perform a lifesaving shock. To be sure you must be trained in its proper use. Bystanders who know how to use AEDS have saved countless lives.

But AEDS are not everywhere. So getting an AED to someone who has suffered a cardiac arrest often requires an ambulance to get to that individual. Consider that many many obstacles exist to getting help as soon as possible. Traffic, weather, poor roads, rural location are just a few of the problems.

Along comes drones who can overcome most of these obstacles. In Sweden researchers found that drones arrived on the scene an amazing 16 minutes sooner than ambulances. Wow!

Of course, just having a AED on the scene without someone there knowing how to use it does no good. In order for drone delivered AEDS to work, intensive training of the public must occur. Still, it is a clever way of using drones.