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If you’re a fan of scavenger hunts; It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World; geocaching and/or saving lives, you should know about a contest that is starting this week in Philadelphia.
I hope you never need a defibrillator, the machine that jump starts a heart after a cardiac arrest. You probably go through your daily life without paying any attention to where you might find one.
Penn Medicine researchers want to increase awareness of the location of automated external defibrillators (AED’s) and they have created MyHeartMap Challenge to locate all of the AED’s in Philadelphia County. Tapping into the idea of crowdsourcing, Penn Medicine is offering $10,000 to the individual or team who reports the most AED’s in Philadelphia during the contest.
To sweeten the deal, the team at Penn is offering $50 to entrants who are the first to identify one of the “Golden Ticket” AED’s (Oompa Loompas are not eligible).
You can enter as an individual or as a team, just fill out a form at MyHeartMap, then identify any AED’s you can find in Philadelphia County. If you have an iPhone or an Android phone, you can download an app to make the reporting of AED’s easier. You can also submit locations of AED’s without entering the contest if you want to earn karma instead of cash.
Details of the contest can be found at the Penn Medicine website.
After the contest is finished, the Penn team will compile the information into an app that will determine a person’s location and show him the closest AED’s.
If you don’t live in Philadelphia, you still may want to visit the MyHeartMap Challenge website. The Penn team plans to expand its program to other locations. You can vote on the location for the next contest to bring the challenge to your hometown.
You can also follow the contest on:
Facebook – MyHeartMap Challenge
Twitter – @myheartmap
More information can be found in this video:
Would you like to enter this contest? Would you like this contest to come to your hometown? Let us know in the Comments section below!
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* Heart image by Seyed Mostafa Zamani
** Defibrillator image by Olaf Gradin
*** Chained Heart image by ~addicted2love
Hello,
This sounds like a very noble cause. Though I live miles and miles away in another country, I shall share this so that more people can benefit from this! 🙂
Hi Hajra, I completely agree. This is a truly great challenge that has the potential of saving many lives. Even though you live very far away from Philadelphia, you can still visit the MyHeartMap Challenge site to bring the contest to your hometown. Or, start a challenge on your own!
The wider this idea spreads, the better for everyone!
Thanks so much for spreading the word about this challenge, Hajra!
Very cool and creative idea for sure.
Thanks, Bill. I thought so too. The more people who know about this life-saving contest, the better.
I appreciate your stopping by. Hope you’re having a great weekend. 🙂
What a wonderful idea for a contest. I hope other areas pick up on this and do something similar. I remember when one facility in our area got a defibrillator a few years back, and a big deal was made over it, with good reason.
Hi Leora, Welcome to The Wonder of Tech! I agree, this is a wonderful way to gather information about where defibrillators are located. One of my very dear friends was saved by a defibrillator after he had a heart attack a little over a year ago.
Thanks for stopping by and leaving a message, Leora! 🙂
I love geocaching, and this is right up my alley and something we should start doing in Norway for sure. We’re not exactly a huge country, we’re less people than a regular US city.. but still, there are similar things we can do 🙂
Thanks a lot for sharing this Carolyn.
Hi Jens, I love geocaching too. This fun contest combines the fun of geocaching with the benefit of helping others. Even though Norway doesn’t have as many people as the US, this type of contest could still benefit many. Perhaps you should fill out the form at the site so the contest could be brought to Norway.
I really think this contest should be everywhere around the world! 🙂
Hi enjoyed reading your post
I first heard about these defibrillator machines being put up in the local town near us about2 months ago. Think it is a brilliant idea. Now maybe it is time all companies should have to send employees on a basic course of how yo use one. Also the basic concept behind them. And advertise where they are for all to find. Basically so people know where they are and how to use them.
Thanks again