Cardiac arrest is the leading cause of preventable death in France, claiming 50,000 victims each year. Only 5% of those who suffer a cardiac arrest survive, as action must be taken within the first 4 minutes, leaving no time for emergency services to intervene. Many defibrillators have been installed in public spaces, but still not enough to allow timely intervention. Furthermore, 80% of cardiac arrests occur at the victims' homes.
It is from this observation that Johann Kalchman had the idea to equip citizens with defibrillators to democratize their use. Lifeaz, a connected defibrillator made in France, small, easily transportable, and within reach at home or in the workplace, available for around thirty euros a month, accompanied by ultra-sophisticated maintenance.
"It started with a mission to enable every citizen and every business to be capable of saving a life in the event of a cardiac arrest,” explains Johann Kalchman. “Using a defibrillator is accessible to everyone. No training is needed. There is a voice that guides you. You can't go wrong. But being trained helps you recognize a cardiac arrest, have the right reflexes, and know what you can and cannot do.”
Beyond the economic model issue, resolved with the subscription formula, another challenge that Lifeaz had to tackle was the maintenance of defibrillators. “Today, in public places, one-third of them do not work due to lack of maintenance,” specifies Johann Kalchman. “The traditional method involves a technician coming once a year. With technology, we can change a lot of things. Our defibrillator is connected; we monitor it continuously, we can update it remotely, and we receive alerts for low battery or technical issues, allowing us to correct them.”
Currently, there are 22,000 Lifeaz defibrillators deployed in France and 92 lives saved. "By acting quickly, we can change everything,” insists Johann Kalchman. "The issue of cardiac arrest has always been approached as a public health policy rather than an individual concern. We place a defibrillator in a train station because a million people pass through, but those present are at greater risk of experiencing this at home or in their workplace. So we flipped the model. We address citizens, who can make a difference.”
