What does designing an AED have to do with two ball bearings?
For people that experience sudden cardiac arrest (SCA), the chance of survival decreases approximately 10% for each minute that passes. Time is of the essence when performing a rescue, but Emergency Medical Services (EMS) personnel must frequently contend with noise, extreme temperatures, uncertain lighting conditions, and an unstable physical setting (picture an ambulance travelling over speed bumps). Creating an easy-to-use EMS device requires that we follow a user-centered design approach to ensure a device that meets up to this intense, high stakes environment. In his presentation, Christian will share his experiences and the process developing Philips’s latest Automated External Defibrillator. He will explain why, when designing for EMS, you need to know about the story of the two ball bearings.
9. Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA) + AED
• Heart stops instantly. (not a heart attack)
• Leading cause of death for people over 40.
(anyone, anywhere)
• Kills 335,000+ people in US per year. (more than
Colon cancer, Auto Accidents, Breast Cancer
Prostate Cancer, Aids and House Fires combined).
• Survival decreases by 7 – 10% for every minute
that passes without Defibrillation.
• The only way to reverse SCA is with Defibrillation
(AED) and CPR.
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10. How do we understand our user?
(Walking in your users shoes)
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11. Get to know our user
(EMS) Emergency response professionals & non professional
• ALS (Advanced Life Support)
Trained Paramedics / Nurses.
• BLS (Basic Life Support)
Emergency Medical Technicians (EMT’s) / Fire fighters.
• MERT / Police (Medical emergency response team)
Trained civilian response teams, corporate teams. Officers.
• Lay-users
Un-trained civilians, little or no experience.
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12. See and hear what’s happening
• Make them a part of the process and solution
• Interview the people who use the device and where they use it
• Observe them during in action (ambulances)
• Document the workflow
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14. Design for extremes
• Lightness/darkness
• Cold/hot
• No Experience to fully trained
• Chaos / Order
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15. How do we know we meet their needs?
(Test, test, and test again)
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16. User Testing
• Develop lots of prototypes (low to high)
• Test early and often! (test assumptions)
• Immerse the people who use our devices in ‘real’ scenarios’
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17. Wrap it up…
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18. Several Insights for Designing for EMS
• Continuous dialogue
• Clarify what they say and do
• Clear and concise information systems
• High contrast visual – lighting conditions
• Focus on what’s needed, when it’s needed
• Make things tangible - prototype - early and often
• Multi disciplinary approach
• Remove steps if possible
• And… Know thy user
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What was happening there?SOMEONE IS DYING. Different responders, different protocols, different devices, different training, etc.FAMILYThe family doesn’t know what to do or how to reactThey are screaming, yelling, crying, afraid – want someone to help!.Someone's on the phone with 911 – multiple conversationsPOLICEI NEED TO SAVE THIS PERSON!Police are trying to get things under controlPosition patient for therapyNot thinking about device, pulling pads, yanking the device out, doing what needs to be done.The police officer drags the AED by the pads. It gets ripped out of the case. The patient is out, could be foaming at the mouth, cold, clammy feeling, changing color. The adhesive might not be sticking due to sweet. High temperature, cold temperature, clammy and start sweating. Time keeps ticking (time is everything)FIREWe have a tiered system. Family calling 911, Police, fire… team work is essential, the systems need to work together.Tiered system, (police, fire, 911, family) Everyone is part of the rescue chain(90% quiet, 10% chaos)How do you anticipate these needs when design for EMS? knowing all your users