‘Standby’ by Simon Roberts

‘Standby’ is a GPS enabled Epipen housing to aid rescue for those experiencing an anaphylactic shock in difficult to reach locations.

Background

Anaphylaxis is an extreme, often life-threatening, allergic reaction to a specific antigen which could cause the body to go into anaphylactic shock. It occurs due to the body’s immune system reacting inappropriately in response to the presence of a substance that is wrongly perceived as a threat. Adrenaline must be administered to the patient immediately to narrow the blood vessels, raise blood pressure and reduce swelling to prevent suffocation.

If proper treatment is not received, anaphylaxis can turn deadly in as little as 15 minutes.

Once adrenaline has been administered through the form of an EpiPen, transferring the patient to hospital is the number one priority.

In the UK over a 12 month period, 61.8% of all admissions due to allergic reactions (12,560) were emergencies, and of that nearly 1 in 5 (4070) were for anaphylaxis.

The rate of prescribing emergency adrenaline products over that same 12 month period was 1 per 283 people, which equates to 230,176 EpiPen auto-injectors being administered in the UK.

Overview

Utilising a government run emergency response satellite system known as COSPAS-SARSAT, precise coordinates of the patient’s location can be determined, leading to the appropriate emergency response being dispatched.

Uses simple step by step instructions displayed on the side of the device to reduce mistakes made during injection. Also incorporates a text message response post injection to notify the parties present that the distress call has been triggered and that help is on the way.

‘Administered to anaphylactic sufferers, administered by inexperienced third parties’ 

Besides the clear cap and pin, all elements of the prototype were 3D printed

Contact

Simon Roberts