Improving the odds: The MyresQ app helps connect to 5,805 qualified and certified rescuers while giving the precise location of the emergency after activation. — IZZRAFIQ ALIAS/The Star
PETALING JAYA: When rescuing someone in cardiac arrest, every second counts towards saving their life.
With that in mind, the MyresQ medical app was created to quickly alert nearby rescuers to hasten emergency response times.
The app provides the public with the last-mile emergency response, which is a vital link in the chain of survival.
Launched in March, the first-of-its-kind app has already been activated in 459 emergency cases nationwide, of which 127 or nearly 28% were related to sudden cardiac arrest. The others were medical emergencies such as fainting and chest pain.
It also has one of the most comprehensive databases for automated external defibrillators (AEDs), with 360 registered under the app.
MyresQ helps connect to 5,805 qualified and certified rescuers while giving the precise location of the emergency after activation.
Its co-founder Dr Mohd Afiq Mohd Nor said the idea for the app came in late 2022 after a person collapsed and nobody around could perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR).
Dr Afiq is an emergency physician consultant currently working in Universiti Malaya Medical Centre’s emergency medicine department, which is one of MyresQ’s partners.
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Following the incident, he said his colleagues and a few others thought about developing an app to activate responders.
“There was no system to activate responders to help people in need while waiting for an ambulance to arrive.
“It took us about three months to develop the app and we ran tests in 2023 to fine-tune it.
“We have yet to see the next part following the hospitalisation of the patients,” he said.
“Our focus is to increase the number of responders, to train and get people to use the app.
“A key performance index for an ambulance is to reach in 15 minutes after a call is made, but a study has found that it takes about 17 to 20 minutes on average,” said Dr Afiq.
He said the app team’s aim was to get those who received the notification within a 500m radius to reach the victim in four minutes.
Dr Afiq said emergency assistance for someone in cardiac arrest should be conducted within four to 10 minutes.
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“This is because when the heart stops and there is no oxygen supply to the brain, it (the brain) will begin suffering damage,” he said.
As such, when the heart stops or someone has an attack, CPR and subsequent use of an AED are vital, he reiterated.
Regarding the AED, he said users could upload information of their locations to help people find and access them via the app.
When asked about the importance of having such an app, Dr Afiq said the activation of the system and CPR increased the survival rate.
“Even if you are not a responder, as a bystander you can activate the system, which helps tremendously as it notifies those within 500m.
“Among Malaysians, knowledge of CPR is taught in schools but there is no practical training for it, thus it becomes difficult for someone to perform it when needed.
“With the MyresQ app, one can start the CPR, activate the system and if there is an AED nearby, they can use it as well.
“Once you activate the system, you will be directed to 999 via the phone app call network,” he said, adding that the app can function nationwide.
