Allegheny County, Pittsburgh Announce Launch of Lifesaving Smartphone Application

PITTSBURGH – Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald, City of Pittsburgh Mayor William Peduto and City of Pittsburgh Councilman Dan Gilman today announced initiatives to improve public safety services and empower residents to take action while awaiting response by EMS professionals. The press event, which also included partners from the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center’s Department of Emergency Medicine, announced the launch of PulsePoint Response, a smartphone application to alert CPR-trained citizens of nearby cardiac arrest incidents and emergencies requiring CPR.

“We know that mere minutes can save peoples’ lives and through this public-private partnership, we have the ability to allow citizens offer that lifesaving help,” said Fitzgerald. “We thank Councilman Gilman for bringing this to us and for the partnership with Mayor Peduto and UPMC. We are also grateful for the work that Allegheny County Emergency Services put in on this project to allow this launch to happen.”

The PulsePoint app works directly with the computer-aided dispatch (CAD) system of the Allegheny County Emergency Services 911 Center. When an incident requiring an AED or CPR is reported to 911, citizen users of the app and trained EMS professionals will simultaneously receive a notification of the emergency, thereby increasing a patient’s chance of survival.

Mayor Peduto and Councilman Gilman also announced the expansion of a CPR training program for residents of the City of Pittsburgh. Data shows that each minute without CPR reduces the chance of survival by 7-10 percent. Bystander intervention in the critical early moments of sudden cardiac arrest can increase blood flow to the brain and heart and according to the American Heart Association, can double or triple an individual’s chance for survival.

"PulsePoint brings together so much of what is great about Pittsburgh, from being a leader in both technology and health care, to being the home residents and public safety personnel who are always there to help one another," said Peduto.

Councilman Gilman will introduce legislation next week to require the registration of AED devices, an effort that will inform the UPMC Heart Map program and ReLive initiative, as well as provide integration of the information into the 911 Center and PulsePoint application.

“Bringing PulsePoint, an expanded CPR training program, and the AED registry to the Pittsburgh region will empower residents to become Good Samaritans and assist our award-winning EMS professionals to save lives during cardiac arrest incidents,” said Gilman. “I am thrilled to launch PulsePoint, a prime example of the power of technology to save lives.”

Allegheny County dispatches for 115 of the 130 municipalities, although all 911 calls come into the Allegheny County 911 Center. This app, and the shared data, will be available to all 42 EMS agencies in the county. Our leadership will begin reaching out in the near future to make those connections through the county’s EMS Council, the Local Emergency Planning Council (LEPC) and other organizations.

Allegheny County Emergency Services will also be working with volunteer and paid fire agencies throughout the county to share information on the app and resources available. Additionally, the department will be assisting in reaching out to all public safety entities within Allegheny County (police, fire, EMS, hospital staff, colleges and universities) to share the use and benefits of PulsePoint. All outreach will begin in the next few months, but interested entities can also contact Emergency Services directly at 412-473-1000.

Both the PulsePoint Respond and PulsePoint AED apps are now available for iPhone and Android and can be downloaded from the iTunes Store and Google Play.

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Office of the County Executive
101 Courthouse • 436 Grant Street • Pittsburgh, PA 15219
Phone (412) 350-6500 • Fax (412) 350-6512
www.alleghenycounty.us • executive@alleghenycounty.us

Office of the Mayor
512 City-County Building • 414 Grant Street • Pittsburgh, PA 15219
Phone (412) 255-2626 • Fax (412) 255-2687
www.PittsburghPA.gov

Office of Pittsburgh City Council District 8
510 City-County Building • 414 Grant Street • Pittsburgh, PA 15219
Phone (412) 255-2133 • Fax (412) 255-0738
www.PittsburghPA.gov/District8

SOURCE: Allegheny County (Press Release)