Spatial databases
From Planimetry to Graph - A First Step Towards the Implementation of an Efficient AED Program
Sudden cardiac death is one of the most frequent cause of death in the United States. Considering that cardiac arrest cannot be prevented, treatment for this must be immediate and efficient. Therefore, starting resuscitation immediately and then defibrillating the victim within three to five minutes after the collapse provides the best chance of saving a life.
Nowadays, small and easy to use semi-automatic defibrillators have become widely available. These devices, also known as semi-Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs), are safe, accurate and easy to use but sometimes only one AED is available for a building (or even a group of building), or large and crowded areas For this reason, it is crucial to know the shortest and fastest path to the victim. Therefore, it is fundamental for any rescuer (bystanders or professionals) be aware of where the AED should be placed in complex or broad environment.
We implemented a method to extrapolate from a planimetry a weighted graph where nodes represents rooms and points of interest, edges represents connections between rooms and the weight of an edge describes time taken to travel that edge. Moreover, different algorithm can be applied to this graph. For instance, we implemented an algorithm to establish where the AED should be ideally placed into the building.
