.jpg)
County Utilizing App For Cardiac Arrest Emergencies
Rockbridge County Fire-Rescue this week is introducing PulsePoint, a free mobile app that alerts CPR-trained residents to nearby cardiac arrest emergencies, helping them respond before paramedics arrive.
The app, which integrates with the county’s 911 system, will be available in Rockbridge County, Lexington and Buena Vista on Friday, Feb. 14.
The initiative, funded by a grant received by the Central Shenandoah EMS Council, aims to improve survival rates for out-of-hospital cardiac arrests by encouraging immediate bystander CPR. According to the American Heart Association, survival rates for sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) are less than 8 percent nationwide, but prompt CPR can double or triple a victim’s chances of survival.
PulsePoint Respond notifies registered users when a cardiac emergency is happening nearby in a public location. If the user has indicated they are trained in CPR and willing to assist, they will receive an alert at the same time emergency services are dispatched. The app also provides directions to the nearest Automated External Defibrillator (AED), giving potential rescuers the tools they need to help sustain a person in cardiac arrest until professional responders arrive.
Lt. Shane Watts of Rockbridge County Fire-Rescue, who is the media contact in charge of the PulsePoint project, spoke to The News-Gazette to explain how the app helps speed up their rescue process.
“When someone calls 911, it goes to our dispatch center, and when they state that it’s a cardiac arrest, our dispatchers put it into the dispatch system as a cardiac arrest,” he said.
“It will notify everyone within a quarter mile radius that has the app that there is someone that needs CPR, and it’ll guide them to the location and let them know where automatic external defibrillators are,” he said.
Watts identified the spread-out nature of the Rockbridge area as a particular reason PulsePoint’s services will be helpful.
“Because we’re a rural area, at times it may take 15-20 minutes for an ambulance to get to some places,” he said. “For cardiac arrest, for every minute without CPR, there is a 10% reduction in survival … If someone collapses, and we can have someone there within one to two minutes, when it takes an ambulance five to six minutes to get there normally, you know we’re already ahead of the game.”
A companion app, PulsePoint AED, allows users to report and update AED locations in the community. This helps emergency responders and the public quickly locate and access these life-saving devices in a crisis. Users can submit photos and descriptions of AED locations, which local authorities then verify before adding them to the registry.
“With PulsePoint we hope to increase bystander involvement in time-sensitive medical calls by increasing the use of CPR and AEDs, while also keeping the community informed, in real time, of all emergency activities,” said Watts “It gives our residents and visitors the ability to know when a cardiac arrest is occurring close by, locate AEDs in the area, and perform potentially lifesaving CPR while our personnel respond to the scene. It also shows them general information for all 911 calls to keep them better informed of what’s going on in our community.”
PulsePoint also offers broader emergency awareness tools. Users can choose to receive real-time notifications about fires, floods, utility emergencies, and other major incidents, improving public safety and awareness.
“In addition to nearby ‘CPRneeded’ notifications, Pulse-Point subscribers can follow their local fire department and choose to be notified of significant events that may impact their family. These informational notifications provide an early and automatic heads-up to local threats such as wildland fires, flooding and utility emergencies, “said Watts. “Improving situational awareness with PulsePoint can help build safer, stronger, and more resilient communities.”
Anyone in the Rockbridge area can download PulsePoint Respond, even if they are not CPR-certified. While CPR alerts are only sent to those who have indicated they are trained, the app’s emergency activity notifications are available to all users.
Local officials encourage businesses, schools and community organizations to help spread awareness and participate in building the AED registry.
Watts is optimistic about the benefits provided by this system. “I’m hoping that out-ofhospital sudden cardiac arrest survival rates will increase, due to the fact that we can do community CPR … Hopefully we’re getting people to the sick person quicker,” he said.
The PulsePoint Respond and PulsePoint AED apps are free to download on Google Play and the App Store. For more information, visit pulsepoint. org or contact Watts at [email protected].
