PulsePoint Apps Saving Lives

PulsePoint Foundation, along with marketing and implementation partner Physio-Control, has developed a couple of apps that are making a difference in many locations across the country. PulsePoint Respond is an application designed to notify your phone if there is someone nearby that requires immediate assistance. PulsePoint AED is an application that can pinpoint the location of the nearest AED. Both apps require that the municipality has procured the PulsePoint software and is using the technology.

If you are trained in CPR, and you download the PulsePoint Respond app, your mobile device can receive emergency alerts detailing the nature of the situation. For example: A victim of SCA is down and unresponsive. A bystander calls 9-1-1. If your community is  PulsePoint protected, the 9-1-1 dispatch triggers a broadcast to all phones with the PulsePoint Respond application that CPR is needed and lists the location. The notification will only be sent if the victim is in a public location.

PulsePoint AED can be used to detail information on AED locations. If you see an AED, you simply use the app to describe the location. You can even take a picture and download that. Local authorities will use that information to verify the AED. Then, the information is stored and made available to anyone using the PulsePoint Respond application. Now, the responder can answer the call for CPR assistance and send someone for the AED.

Most emergency response teams cannot arrive within the time limits recommended by the “chain of survival” guidelines. There are also around 13 million individuals nationwide who have had training in CPR, or CPR/AED, that could help a stricken person, if needed. If we can get trained citizens alerted to an emergency happening nearby, we can increase the chance of survival dramatically.

There have been news articles on TV, radio, and the web, success stories about victims who have collapsed or stopped breathing, and a PulsePoint notification reaches a CPR trained individual in close proximity who is able to respond before EMS arrives and a life is saved. This is technology at its best!

PulsePoint is now being used in hundreds of communities nationwide, and it has proven effective. What can we do to get more cities and towns involved? Check out the links above for more information. Maybe mention it to your local EMS, first responders, town officials, the cop on the beat, the guys on the corner, your neighbors, friends, and family!

The PulsePoint app is designed for use on iPhones and smartphones using Android, and is available from the Apple App Store and through Google Play. If you think your town, city, or county emergency response agency may be interested in obtaining information on how to get set up with PulsePoint coverage, send them the link to this blog and have them  click here.

It’s all about saving lives, people. Download the apps. They’re free! You never know who may benefit next. It could be someone you know, someone you love…could be you.