Everdrone drone delivers AED in Borås cardiac arrest, patient revived

On 19 July 2026, an automated external defibrillator (AED) was delivered by an Everdrone drone to a confirmed out‑of‑hospital cardiac arrest in Borås, Sweden. The drone was dispatched automatically alongside the ambulance under the Västra Götaland Region’s emergency response protocol. Bystanders performed CPR while the drone lowered the AED on a winch from about 30 metres; the device analysed the heart rhythm and delivered a shock, after which the patient regained a pulse and was later treated in hospital.

The system, called Drone Emergency Medical Services (DEMS), operates from six local bases covering more than 300,000 residents in the region and is also in use in France. The incident is part of a research programme begun in 2019 involving the Västra Götaland Region, Karolinska Institutet and Everdrone, with findings published in The Lancet and The New England Journal of Medicine. A deployment in Stockholm is planned for autumn 2026.