Spotlight
Reavo: Practise resuscitation before it becomes a matter of life and death
In the event of a cardiac arrest, every second counts, and yet many people hesitate to act because of fear, uncertainty and a lack of practice. Alena Friedrichsen, a graduate of the University of Applied Sciences, wants to help first aiders overcome this reluctance. In her final-year project for the Design & Product Management degree programme, she developed a publicly accessible training station where people can practise resuscitation in a fun and straightforward way.
Alena’s idea combines hardware with gamification: chest compressions are simulated on a pressure-sensitive pad, LEDs provide feedback on the depth of pressure and the rhythm, and a playful interface guides users through the short training session. The stations are designed to be located in places where people already spend time, such as airports, universities, museums or at events. With this health-impact start-up, Reavo’s team aims to overcome people’s reluctance and give more people the confidence actually to take action in an emergency.
The Reavo Training Station
Alena Friedrichsen has already made a strong impression with her idea: Reavo took first place in the ideaUP! ideas competition organised by Startup Salzburg 2025. Since October 2025, the team has been supported as a fellow by the FHStartup Centre at Salzburg University of Applied Sciences, benefiting from the university’s and its partners’ network, expertise, infrastructure and laboratories.
A milestone in the project’s development was the first public trial of the pilot station in a real-world setting. In July 2026, the station was tested in public for the first time at First Aid Day in Munich. On Munich’s Marienplatz, visitors with and without a medical background were able to try out the station and provide the team with valuable feedback straight away.
First Aid Day, Marienplatz, Munich, July 2026
3 Questions for Alena Friedrichsen
How to practise saving lives
Alena, how did the idea for a CPR training tool come about?
Reavo came about from a combination of my medical background and what I learned while studying design at Salzburg University of Applied Sciences. Since 2021, I have been working part-time in a hospital on an internal medicine ward and a palliative care ward, where I have had several formative experiences during patient resuscitation attempts. Whilst I knew how to respond to a cardiac arrest within the professional and controlled environment of the hospital, I realised that I would lack this confidence in a genuine emergency outside the hospital. When choosing my bachelor’s thesis topic, I set out to address this uncertainty precisely. This uncertainty is not limited to me; it is shared by large sections of society.
What did you take away from the First Aid Day in Munich that will help you develop further?
Our findings ranged from hardware and software improvements to mixed user reactions. We identified many ways to improve the clarity of the game interface and the user experience, and the height and pressure sensitivity of the pressure pad still need adjustment. Furthermore, the feedback was fascinating: from users who returned hours later to beat their own high scores, to people who needed a bit of help with hand-eye coordination, right through to many positive comments on the relevance of the topic and the use of gamification as an innovative approach. This confirms that we are on the right track with Reavo and that, by rolling it out, we can one day bring about change.
What happens next? What are your next steps?
Together with my co-founders, Linda Jäger and Julius Jungwirth, we are currently optimising the software and looking for ways to develop the pilot station into a product ready for series production and manufacturing. At the same time, we are building up a network of partners for future installation sites and seeking funding opportunities for the pre-seed phase.
The Reavo team: Alena Friedrichsen with her co-founders Linda Jäger and Julius Jungwirth
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