On Oct. 15, Dr. Graham Nichol, 91Ě˝»¨professor of medicine and director of the UW-Harborview Center for Prehospital Emergency Care, launched MyHeartMap Seattle. This was a month-long, city-wide scavenger hunt to discover all of Seattle’s automated external defibrillators, or AEDs. The winner or winning team would be awarded $10,000 provided to Nichol’s research efforts by the Food and Drug Administration and several AED companies. Thirty-two teams signed up to participate. The AED sightings started rolling in.

On Twitter, teams posted selfies with AEDs, asked for hints, and celebrated when they found “golden AEDs,” which were worth $50 extra. The contest was extremely close.

One month later, Nichol announced the winning team: Team HeartMarket, a group of six 20-somethings with a serious love for scavenger hunts, had found 800 AEDs.

Rebecca Bridge heard about the contest through a Google alert for the phrase “scavenger hunt.” She described the four frantic weeks her team spent searching: “Health clubs, dentist offices, hotels, office buildings. Sometimes they were locked up somewhere.”

The contest required some sleuthing.  One evening, while having dinner on Capitol Hill, Rebecca and her teammate Mike Pantoliano walked by Seattle Academy’s open house for parents. They just looked at other and proceeded inside to what turned out to be a gold mine of defibrillators.

Fellow HeartMarket teammates were Ben Estes, Lara Petersburg, Megan Singley, Miranda Rensch, and Aaron Wheeler. Mike said that often the folks he encountered at the front desk of a business didn’t know what an AED was, or were immediately suspicious.

“They thought we were there to ticket or fine them for not having one,” he said.

In some cases, employees would direct Team HeartMarket to an area of the building where they might have an AED. The searchers would find a fire extinguisher instead.

“We developed an irrational hatred of fire extinguishers,” joked Mike.

Although there is currently no legal penalty associated with not having an AED, keeping one on hand in areas frequented by many people is a good idea.  These medical devices are extremely important in saving lives. When combined with CPR, the use of an AED improves survival rates for sudden cardiac arrest by almost half. Before the contest began, Nichol and his team knew of roughly 250 registered AEDs in various public locations like schools and public buildings. Now his team is sorting through over 2,000 reportings. After eliminating duplicates, they expect a potential database of at least 1,500.

MyHeartMapSeattle was the second of two AED hunts in the United States. The first, in Philadelphia, was orchestrated by Dr. Raina Merchant, assistant professor of emergency medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. Both contests arose from the need to map and monitor defibrillators. The FDA has publicly stated a desire to monitor these devices to see how often they are used and how they affect the survival rate of sudden cardiac arrest. So, rather than sending one person or even a team of hourly-paid individuals to search each city building by building, researchers decided to hold a contest to capitalize on the recent success of crowdsourcing. Eventually, the FDA hopes to place unique labels (QR codes) on each defibrillator.

The inspiration for the HeartMap project was the DARPA Red Balloon Challenge,  a 2009 contest/experiment that offered $40,000 to the person or team that was able to submit the exact locations of 10 large red, weather balloons hidden in plain sight all around the United States. The winning team located all 10 balloons in just under 9 hours. Armed with this knowledge, researchers were able to secure funding from the FDA and several AED companies to offer the $10,000 reward.

Of course, the other purpose for tracking and mapping AEDs is that they are designed for public use. Any person can follow the directions correctly and deliver the electrical current that could correct an irregular heartbeat and save a person’s life. CPR can sustain a victim’s life, but without an AED the survivor could still suffer brain damage or death. Having a map of AEDs will allow 911 operators to pinpoint a location and relay that information to a bystander before a first-responder can make it to the scene. With modern technology, it’s possible that each city could have a comprehensive location-based smartphone app that would allow a bystander to find the nearest AED with the swipe of a finger.

For now, Nichol and Merchant and their teams have inspired other cities to hold their own scavenger hunts, and they’re taking the show on the road. There’s no word yet as to exactly where the next HeartMapChallenge will be, but we can bet $10,000 it will be a fruitful endeavor.

Oh, and Seattle, if you’re wondering…  After downtown, HeartMarket’s guess is that Capitol Hill is the next best heart-friendly neighborhood.

AEDs are electronic briefcase-size devices designed to allow bystanders on scene at a medical emergency to help someone who has collapsed with loss of mechanical activity of the heart, or cardiac arrest.

“Our list of AED locations may be incomplete. We are seeking the public’s help to learn where more of these devices are,” said Dr. Graham Nichol, 91Ě˝»¨ professor of medicine in the Center for Pre-Hospital Emergency Care at 91Ě˝»¨Medicine’s Harborview Medical Center.

AEDs are cost-effective lifesavers that are often placed where cardiac arrests are most likely, such as airports, sports clubs and shopping malls, according to Nichol, who explained why it is important for a bystander to be able to locate an AED immediately.

“Cardiac arrests are a leading cause of death in the United States but can be treated if recognized and responded to quickly with an AED.”

Often cardiac arrest is due to ventricular fibrillation, in which the lower chambers of the heart quiver instead of contracting in a steady beat. AEDs simplify analysis of the heart rhythm. This enables lay people to recognize and treat ventricular fibrillation before emergency medical services providers arrive. Each device has voice and visual prompts that guide bystanders through the necessary steps.

More than 1.2 million AEDs are now in public places in the United States, and about 180,000 more are installed each year. Sometimes bystanders cannot find the nearest AED during a medical emergency. That’s where the My HeartMap Seattle challenge comes in. Game players will assist 91Ě˝»¨clinicians by reporting the location of AEDs in community settings throughout Seattle.

Here are the basic rules of the game.

•   The contest starts Tuesday, Oct.15, and ends Friday, Nov. 15.
• ĚýĚý to participate in the contest.
•   When you locate an AED in Seattle, report a brief description of it on the contest website, including the building address for the AED, its location within the building, and whether the device appears to be ready for use.
•   A $10,000 grand prize will be awarded to the individual or team that identifies the most unique AEDs. “Unique” means no other player or team has already found the AED. The grand prize will be “unlocked” when at least one individual or team identifies 500 AEDs or all contest participants collectively identify 750 AEDs.
•   Twenty $50 prizes are also available. Twenty AEDs in the city of Seattle have been pre-selected by the research team as “Golden AEDs.” These are unmarked, and those who are first to report a “Golden AED” will win $50.
•   You can follow MyHeartMap Seattle on twitter (@cprnation, #MyHeartMapSeattle) or at the .

The AED scavenger hunt aims to build public awareness about AEDs, which are commonly contained in a clear glass wall box, sometimes near a fire extinguisher. The spot is generally marked with a symbol of an electrical charge passing through a heart shape.

The contest is modeled after a similar Philadelphia County project at the University of Pennsylvania, which in turn adapted an approach from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency for its Red Balloon Challenge. Dr. Raina Merchant, University of Pennsylvania assistant professor of emergency medicine, directed the My HeartMap Philadelphia Challenge. She is the director of the Penn Medicine Social Media Lab and an expert in the use of digital strategies to educate the public on at-the-scene emergency aid. Merchant is collaborating with 91Ě˝»¨scientists on the My HeartMap Seattle Challenge.

“This is an exciting collaboration that could have a real impact on access to emergency care in Seattle and other regions throughout the country,” noted Merchant.

During the MyHeartMap Philadelphia challenge, participants submitted data about AED locations via a website and a phone app. Some 313 individuals and teams reported more than 1,400 AEDs. Prizes were given for reporting the most AEDs found or for being the first to report the location of specific previously selected devices.

“Most people realize that AEDs are simple enough to use,” Nichol said. “Just follow the voice and visual prompts. They are designed to provide a shock only when needed.”

An AED is usually activated by opening its lid. The commands then begin with visual, recorded and text instructions for baring the patient’s chest and sticking on the pads. Then the machine asks everyone to step back while it analyzes the heart rhythm. It repeats the request to stand clear if it decides to administer a shock. If the rhythm suddenly normalizes before a shock is delivered, the machine will report a rhythm change and announce that no shock will occur.

Most machines also instruct in CPR and coach the timing of compressions and breaths.

“My HeartMap Seattle will help us improve care for patient with out of hospital cardiac arrest,” Nichol said. “The methods and results of this AED scavenger hunt in Seattle will be applied to scavenger hunts in other large cities throughout the United States. In the future, we will have a comprehensive record of AED locations throughout the country.”

My HeartMap Seattle is funded by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Zoll Medical Inc., Philips Healthcare Inc., Physio-Control Inc., HeartSine Technologies Inc. and Cardiac Science Inc.

The collaborating sponsors include the American Heart Association, Medic One Foundation, Nick of Time Foundation, University of Pennsylvania and 91Ě˝»¨.