Scavenger hunt and good deed pays off for contestants

Part lucrative treasure hunt and part good deed, a challenge to find life-saving devices all over Philadelphia has just wrapped up. Two winners will receive $9,000 each for finding the most AEDs – automated external defibrillators. Jennifer Yuan and Jack Creighton each submitted over 400 AED locations to win the challenge.

 

In case of sudden cardiac arrest, AEDs can be used to administer an electroshock in order to get a person’s heart beating again. They are small and typically neatly stashed away in some corner of a building – and that’s the problem. People don’t know where to find them.

The University of Pennsylvania “My Heart Map” Challenge asked people to find AEDs in Philadelphia – over 1500 locations were submitted.

Emergency physician Raina Merchant oversaw the challenge. She says going forward, this information will be used to guide people in case of a heart emergency.

“There’s an AED in this building, right here on the second floor next to the elevator why don’t you go get it while we are waiting for 9-1-1. To date, that system doesn’t exist, but that’s what we’re trying to create,” Merchant said.

Merchant says a smart phone app to locate AEDs will be available within the next two months. Merchant says she hopes to expand the My Heart Map Challenge across the region and country.