A Dutch student recently revealed a prototype ambulance drone able to reach heart attack victims and defibrillate them within precious life-saving minutes. The drone is known as a flying defibrillator.

Alec Momont came up with this new piece of technology. The drone can fly at speeds of up to 100 kilometers per hour (60 miles per hour) and is painted in in the emergency yellow color.

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It's propulsion system consists of six propellers. The drone can carry about four kilograms, which in this case is the defibrillator.

About 800.000 people suffer cardiac arrest in the European Union every year, of which only eight percent survive.

The 23-year old from the TU Delft University said the main reason for these grim statistics is that there's a relatively long emergency response time. It takes about 10 minutes for emergency services to reach a victim.

Brain deaths and fatalities occur in about four to six minutes.

"The ambulance drone can get a defibrillator to a patient within a 12 square kilometers (4.6 square miles) zone within a minute, increasing the chance of survival from 8 percent to 80 percent," he said.

The ambulance drone uses GPS to track its patients. It also tracks emergency mobile calls.

Much like a real paramedic, the drone can also watch, talk, and give instructions to help the victim via a built-in camera connected to a control room via a livestream webcam.

The Dutch daily Algemeen Dagblad said the prototype has already begun to attract the attention of several emergency parties, chiefly those in Amsterdam. The Dutch Heart Foundation has also applauded the idea.

Momont looks to the future and sees his drone as a flying medical toolbox able to do a variety of things, like bring patients oxygen masks if they so need it.

TagsAmbulance drone, Alec Momont, Prototype