First responseFree app alerts CPR-trained individuals to a heart attack case in their immediate vicinity

Speed and timeliness is instrumental to saving the life of a victim of cardiac arrest, so Santa Clara County agencies have adopted PulsePoint, a free mobile application (app) which uses location-based technology to alert CPR-trained residents and bystanders if someone in their immediate area is experiencing sudden cardiac arrest. Once alerted, residents can decide whether they are available to reach the victim and begin resuscitation until official emergency responders arrive.

“I can do an important job that the fire department can not do,” says PulsePoint Foundation president and app inventor Richard Price, adding that first responders “can’t get there in two minutes. I can sustain life until they arrive.”

A substantial amount of time passes between an initial 911 call and when paramedics arrive on site. Call dispatchers have to collect, and then share, call information, firefighters and paramedics have to reach their vehicles, and then responders need to get to the victim. Price notes that this traditional approach needs to happen within nine minutes, after which there is a 92 percent chance of death. “In these first few minutes, you can really make a difference,” Price says.

Price, the former chief of San Ramon Valley Fire Protection District, conceived the app in 2009 after there was a cardiac arrest incident near him which he was unaware of and could not respond to. When the mobile app revolution took off, Price took advantage of the popularity of location-based technology. “This idea to push a message to a phone is fairly new, and the ability for the phone to know where it’s at is still fairly new,” Price says.

According to the San Jose Mercury News, PulsePoint’s main target audience is off-duty firefighters, nurses, and other life-saving professionals, though Price encourages all CPR-trained individuals to register. “It helps the whole system, even if you never get activated. It reinvigorates an old technique,” Price says. “It’s not your dad’s CPR; it’s more modern and it’s a new way to be a member of this community.”

When cities adopt PulsePoint, the app is connected to 911 dispatch centers. Residents who download the app will confirm that they are CPR trained and would be willing to serve during an emergency. According to PulsePoint, 57 percent of American adults say they have had CPR training, and most would be willing to use CPR to help save a stranger’s life. PulsePoint also offers users a tutorial on proper CPR methods.