Committed to Saving Lives
Through our National Science Foundation grant, Avidhrt is focused on research to improve the health and safety of our emergency response professionals – particularly our brave firefighters
Over one million firefighters in the United States provide vital, yet dangerous, public safety services, the risks of fighting fires are well known, but few appreciate the devastating burden of cardiac mortality among firefighters.
Sudden cardiac death accounts for more than 40% of on-duty fatalities
In 98% of these deaths, stress and
over-exertion are identified as the cause
And that on-duty firefighters are twice as likely to suffer CVD-related fatalities compared to all CVD-associated deaths in the United States
What's at Risk
Loss of Life
At Avidhrt we think many of these deaths may be preventable.
Increasing cost of healthcare for local, state and federal governments.
Cardiac disease is a major cause of disability in firefighters
Avidhrt First Responders Safety Platform
Along with our partners at Colorado State University, we are developing the AFRS platform as a wearable monitoring system that is both affordable and practical. The AFRS platform can be used to detect changes in heart rate, heart rhythm, skin and environmental temperature, oxygenation, position and location. Our research is focused on using this real time data to guide firefighters duration of exposure, timing of active cooling and rehydration.
On-duty firefighters will wear a reusable smart patch, linked via LORA, wifi and 5G, designed to monitor ECG, spO2, core body temperature, environmental temperature, location and fall detection.
Mobile and Web
On site monitoring via multiple communication protocols.
Capable of combining multiple data streams create a risk model to guide on-site safety decisions.
Capable of detecting electrocardiogram
(EKG) changes suggestive of arrhythmias and ischemia.
Until now, on-site firefighter monitoring programs have been cost-prohibitive. Predictive diagnostics have long been restricted to expensive clinical settings. Wearables compliant with fire services equipment standards and guidelines have been too costly, especially given the fiscal restraints of municipalities and volunteer departments.
The AFRS platform has the potential to reduce the monetary and social costs of firefighter mortality and morbidity and address the need for a technology that reduces rates of cardiac events among firefighters.
The AFRS platform research and development is made possible by America’s Seed Fund, the National Science
Foundation SBIR Phase I and II grants. We are thankful for the NSF (https://seedfund.nsf.gov) and our research
collaborators at Colorado State University.