SNOHOMISH COUNTY — The emergent need for CPR waits for no-one during a cardiac arrest.
A free smartphone app called PulsePoint that just launched in Snohomish County pings alerts to everyday citizens trained in CPR asking them to come give aid while medics are on their way.
When active, it sends a smartphone alert to anyone within walking distance — about a quarter-mile radius, Marysville Fire Department spokeswoman Christie Veley said. The app also contains instructions how to give CPR and how to use an automatic external defibrillator (AED) shock machine.
CPR keeps blood circulating. It should be used when a person is unresponsive and not breathing. Do it after somebody’s called 911. Quit doing CPR if the person begins breathing again, the American Red Cross notes.
The app pings notifications of cardiac arrests in public places such as malls or restaurants, not in private homes, Veley said.
If just 1% of the public gets this app, one of 8,000 county residents could be at the right place at the right time to save a life. “The more people who have this app, the more people can have CPR interventions,” Veley said.
The app is integrated with Snohomish County’s 911 system to push out the notifications. It went live across Snohomish County on Tuesday, Sept. 14. A grant from the Medic One Foundation is paying for it; the nonprofit is trying to get the technology across the Puget Sound, according to a news release about the launch.
The PulsePoint app also happens to show users a live, local log of fire department calls in the community, from building fires to traffic collisions to medic calls. You can see the logs by “following” local fire agencies in-app.
You can tell the app to ping you of any type of fire service incident of your choice, or ping you with emergency disaster alerts.
A separate app, called PulsePoint AED, encourages people to report where AED shock machines are in public. The reports help build a database of available shock machines for both bystanders and emergency dispatchers.
The apps are available on the Google Play store and Apple’s App Store. They are free.
