Lifeaz

In France, each year, over 50,000 people die prematurely from cardiac arrests. This, and the fact that 80% of out-of-hospital cardiac arrests occur in the home, inspired Johann to conceive the enterprise Lifeaz in 2015 (1). The premise is simple, to make defibrillators as commonplace as a fire extinguisher.

There are two main aspects to Lifeaz's work. The first has been the development of the first defibrillator designed for individuals, named 'Clark'. It is completely automated, selecting the correct therapy to be used without the need for the individual to make an informed decision. It comes with clear visual and vocal instructions for use and is lightweight and portable. Clark also has simple monitoring guidelines, a green light indicating all is well and a red light indicating an anomaly. It also automatically updates to receive the latest innovations. The second, and equally important, part of the programme has been education. Training in life-saving skills should be accessible to everyone, and Lifeaz has developed a programme inclusive of people regardless of their social category, age, or location. The Everyday Heroes app includes digital learning programmes to equip people with the knowledge and reflexes to act in an emergency. With support from partners, it also runs training in person.

In November 2020, Clark became available to the general public for purchase, having previously been in the workplaces of company partners since the end of 2019. After a long period of developing the programme and the product, it has managed to educate over 80,000 people. Additionally, Clark has been used to intervene in approximately 100 emergencies. As the product becomes more widely adopted by the general public in France and beyond, Lifeaz's impact will grow exponentially.