On 19 July 2026, an automated external defibrillator delivered by an Everdrone drone was used in a confirmed cardiac arrest in Borås, Sweden. The incident unfolded within the Västra Götaland Region's (VGR) standard emergency response framework, under which drones are automatically dispatched alongside ambulances to suspected cardiac arrests.
The drone flew autonomously from its local base in Borås, lowering the AED on a winch from roughly 30 metres. Bystanders began CPR, attached the device with guidance from the emergency dispatcher, and a defibrillation shock was delivered. The patient regained a pulse at the scene and was subsequently treated in hospital.
Mats Sällström, CEO of Everdrone, said: "In cases of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, the first few minutes are critical. Everdrone’s drone system helps healthcare providers get an AED to the scene as early as possible, giving the patient the best possible chance of survival,"
The system, called Drone Emergency Medical Services (DEMS), currently operates in Sweden and France. Six drone bases in Västra Götaland Region provide coverage for more than 300,000 residents. A Stockholm Region deployment is scheduled for autumn 2026.
The Borås incident is the latest in a research programme that began in 2019 as a collaboration between VGR, Karolinska Institutet, and Everdrone. The company's work on autonomous drone delivery of medical equipment has been published in The Lancet and The New England Journal of Medicine.
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