The Loveland Fire Rescue Authority (LFRA) recently announced the adoption of PulsePoint in Loveland to further the commitment to increase the survivability of cardiac arrest events. This service will be available to the community starting February 14, 2021. PulsePoint is a free-to-download mobile app, which 1) alerts CPR-trained citizens of cardiac events in their vicinity so they may administer aid, 2) helps build a comprehensive Automated External Defibrillator (AED) registry and 3) informs the community of emergency activity in real time.
Each year, more than 350,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests occur in the United States, making it the leading cause of death. Survival rates nationally for sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) are less than eight percent, but delivery of CPR can sustain life until paramedics arrive by maintaining vital blood flow to the heart and brain. However, only about a third of SCA victims receive bystander CPR. Without CPR, brain damage or death can occur in minutes. The American Heart Association estimates that effective bystander CPR, provided immediately after SCA, can double or triple a person’s chance of survival.
The PulsePoint Respond app empowers everyday citizens to provide life‐saving assistance to victims of SCA. PulsePoint Respond subscribers who have indicated they are trained in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and willing to assist in case of an emergency can be notified if someone nearby is having a SCA and may require CPR. If the cardiac emergency is in a public place, the location-aware application will alert users in the vicinity of the need for CPR simultaneous with the dispatch of advanced medical care. The application also directs these potential rescuers to the exact location of the closest AED.
“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 LFRA Division Chief, Michael Cerovski. “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 9-1-1 calls to keep them better informed of what’s going on in our community.” Throughout the year, the LFRA responds to over 9,000 incidents, including more than 60 cardiac arrest events in 2020.
The latest guidelines from the American Heart Association state that such community programs could increase bystander CPR to the roughly 350,000 cardiac arrests that happen outside the hospital each year.
About the PulsePoint Foundation
PulsePoint is a non-profit foundation that empowers the community to help reduce the millions of annual deaths occurring from sudden cardiac arrest. Learn more at pulsepoint.org or join the conversation at Facebook and Twitter. The free app is available for download on the App Store and Google Play.
About Sudden Cardiac Arrest
Although a heart attack can lead to sudden cardiac arrest (SCA), the two are not the same. SCA is when the heart malfunctions and suddenly stops beating unexpectedly, whereas a heart attack is when blood flow to the heart is blocked, but the heart continues to beat. The average EMS response time is nine minutes, even in urban settings; after 10 minutes there is little chance of successful resuscitation.
