The UGM Faculty of Medicine, Public Health, and Nursing Community Service team launched an Android app called SatuJantung to facilitate first aid and hospital access for cardiac emergencies.
Heart disease is on the list of number one killer diseases in developed and developing countries. Based on reports from the Global Burden of Disease and the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) 2014-2019, cardiovascular disease is Indonesia’s highest cause of death.
Furthermore, data from the Indonesia Basic Health Research (Riskesdas) show an increasing trend in heart disease, from 0.5% in 2013 to 1.5% in 2018. According to the Social Security Administrator for Health data, heart disease is the most significant cost burden. In 2021, it took the largest health financing, amounting to IDR 7.7 trillion.
The causes of heart disease are very diverse, ranging from risk factors for diabetes mellitus, hypertension, obesity, dyslipidemia or fat disorders, physical and psychological stress due to unhealthy lifestyles such as lack of exercise, excess fatty foods consumption, irregular rest, alcoholic beverages consumption, smoking, and so on.
Founder of the SatuJantung app and lecturer at the Faculty, Nurkholis Majid MD, said that being able to help patients with cardiac arrest is something that he is proud of. The idea for the app initially occurred after he and his wife, Beta Ahlam Gizela, a medicolegal expert and forensic doctor, found their son suffered a sudden cardiac arrest.
“The officer who treated my son at that time said that if it weren’t for his parents being doctors, maybe my son wouldn’t have survived,” he recalled on Thursday (7/6).
From that experience, Nurkholis and Beta Ahlam Gizela were moved to create a tool that could help people in the event of a heart attack in the absence of health workers.
SatuJantung features a one-click alarm button that heart attack and cardiac arrest patients can use to notify nearby people and family members of emergencies. The app will also guide helpers who may have never been trained to perform CPR. The app is now available to the general public.
Although, according to his discovery, only 10 out of 100 cardiac arrest patients who receive first aid in the form of CPR can be saved, they have a lifesaving chance three times greater than those who do not.
“Don’t make this fact an obstacle for us to help each other,” he added.
In collaboration with the Indonesia Healthy Synergy Association and Gojek driver volunteers, the Faculty of Medicine held a talk show and training “Collective Care in Cardiac Arrest Treatment for Gojek Driver Volunteers using the SatuJantung 2.0 Android App” on Wednesday (7/5) at the Tahir Postgraduate Building, Yogyakarta.
Forensic medicine and medicolegal lecturer Rusyad Adi Suriyanto shared his heart attack experience. He admitted that care from the surrounding is vital for quick help.
“This surrounding care is the basis for the creation of the SatuJantung,” he explained in the talk show moderated by Dr. Idha Arfianti Wiraagni from the UGM Department of Forensic Medicine and Medicolegal.
Bimo Sujatmiko from Gojek Yogyakarta and Ahmad Faiz Nur Rohman from Ambulance Emergency Response Gojek expressed their appreciation for this training activity that enables them to help people with heart attacks quickly.
“Since the beginning, Gojek drivers have formed a close-knit community. So, it is not difficult to foster concern for others,” said Sujatmiko.
In this training session, Dr. Djayanti Sari, a Pediatric Anesthesia Consultant at Dr. Sardjito Hospital, served as the coordinator of the cardiac resuscitation training, assisted by 3 medical residents. The participants are expected to gain experience and new skills to give first aid to people with cardiac arrest.
Author: Nirwana/Gusti Grehenson