A GROUP of fourth year students from Coláiste Pobail Bheanntraí have developed an app set to revolutionise emergency cardiac care across Ireland.

The project, Code4Life, addresses survival rates for out-of-hospital cardiac arrests – a critical issue since rates remain below 10% despite significant investments in public access defibrillators across the country.

This app connects communities with life-saving defibrillators by creating the country’s first comprehensive, community-powered network. Code4Life ensures people can quickly locate nearby defibrillators, potentially increasing survival rates during cardiac emergencies.

Through detailed research, the students discovered a startling pattern: individuals die just a few metres away from defibrillators because they are unaware of their existence. This situation is even worse in rural areas where cardiac arrest survival rates are 40% lower than in urban regions due to access and information deficits.

Code4Life is more than just a map. It offers crowdsourced mapping of AED locations, access codes, and operational hours. It also includes a system to verify if the equipment has been maintained and is in working order.

The app’s offline capability ensures accessibility in areas with poor mobile coverage, making it indispensable during emergencies when every second counts.

The Code4Life team at the Bantry secondary school is currently preparing for Young Social Innovators (YSI) Speakout on March 4th, having taken part in the YSI Dragon’s Den earlier this month.

Ciara Daly, Roisin Tobin and Sinead Strange represented the group in this competition. The girls presented their project and strategy to potential funders and supporters and walked away €750 and mentorship to build the app prototype.

Their preparation and work to date involves collecting eircodes for defibrillators across West Cork, conducting community surveys on AED awareness, developing multilingual materials, amplifying their message on social media, and drafting policy proposals.

Their research reveals a substantial risk of witnessing a cardiac arrest in one’s lifetime.

Alarmingly, brain damage begins within minutes of cardiac arrest without AED intervention.

It also shows that many communities struggle with ongoing AED maintenance costs, risking expired equipment

The team stresses that Code4Life should transcend charity status to become a national infrastructure necessity.

They are actively seeking funding to scale their solution nationally, establish a maintenance verification framework, and compile comprehensive data to support policy development.

Code4Life’s mission is to ensure no one in Ireland loses their life to cardiac arrest due to an inaccessible defibrillator – and it recommends state-funded maintenance of AEDs.

The students concluded: ‘The question is not whether we can afford to do this, it’s whether we can afford not to. The ground-breaking app could save the life of someone’s loved one.’

By prioritising technology, compassion, and swift action, Code4Life aims to redefine Ireland’s emergency response landscape and significantly increase survival rates.

As they compete in the YSI Dragon’s Den, these students bring inspiration and innovation to the forefront of community-driven solutions.