When someone is suffering cardiac arrest, their chance of survival drops by about 10 percent every minute they go without CPR. This number becomes even more significant when you consider that it usually takes four to five minutes for the first Seattle Fire Department emergency team to arrive. Read about it in the Seattle Times.
PulsePoint Engages You When Minutes Count
In June, the Seattle Fire Department and Medic One Foundation announced the launch of PulsePoint, a free lifesaving mobile app. Think of it like an Amber alert for cardiac arrest victims, summoning help from people nearby. Here’s how it works:
- People who are trained in CPR register and download the app to their phone.
- When a 9-1-1 call for cardiac arrest comes from somewhere nearby (within about 1/4 mile circle), people in the area who have the app are immediately notified of the situation, so they can quickly go to help the person during those vital minutes before fire department personnel arrive.
Seattle hopes to recruit at least 15,000 responders with PulsePoint on their phones. Since you may be trained in CPR, we hope you will be willing to participate.
Please note:
1) The Good Samaritan Act applies to anyone who gets an alert and arrives to help, without threat of liability.
2) You are also not held liable if you do not pursue a notification in your area – the system only sends to phones, it does not identify people by name (user identification is not known).
The PulsePoint app is available for iPhone and Android phones and can be downloaded from the iTunes Store and Google Play. For more information, visit the PulsePoint website and watch the video.
Michael Sayre
Michael R. Sayre, MD
Professor
Division of Emergency Medicine
University of Washington
Medical Director
Seattle Fire Department
206.521.1254
