Citizen CPR Foundation and PulsePoint Award $20,000 Grant to Sonoma County EMS/Save Lives Sonoma

Sonoma County EMS will receive PulsePoint Respond, a mobile app and 9-1-1 dispatch integration, which aims to improve sudden cardiac arrest survival through increased citizen awareness of cardiac arrest events

NEW ORLEANS (December 12, 2017)— It is with a shared vision, to save lives from sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) by stimulating effective community, professional and citizen action, that the PulsePoint Foundation and the Citizen CPR Foundation announce Sonoma County EMS/Save Lives Sonoma as the inaugural winner of the 2017 PulsePoint Grant Competition. The announcement was made at the 2017 Emergency Cardiovascular Care Update (ECCU) Conference in New Orleans.

Three finalists were selected in advance of the ECCU Conference and invited to present their entries during the plenary session entitled: Innovation and Resuscitation - Leveraging Digital Strategies to Improve Survival Rates from SCA. A panel of three expert judges, Drs. Thomas Rea, Mohamud Daya and Tom Aufderheide, interacted with finalists on stage, reviewing the merits of their entries before awarding Sonoma County EMS with the grant for demonstrating a commitment to improving care and outcomes consistent with the mission of the Citizen CPR Foundation. The grant includes a complete PulsePoint Respond implementation, including first year costs, valued at more than $20,000.

The award-winning PulsePoint mobile app, now in more than 2,800 communities nationwide, alerts CPR-trained citizens of cardiac events in their vicinity through a free-to-download mobile app, so they may administer aid while professional responders are in route. The app also informs responders and emergency dispatchers of nearby public Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs). Early application of bystander CPR and rapid defibrillation from an AED have proven to be crucial in improving a person’s chance of surviving SCA. PulsePoint is not limited to emergency responders or those with official CPR certification. It can be used by anyone who has been trained in CPR.

"Sonoma County EMS, through the leadership of the Save Lives Sonoma collaborative, has shown a commitment to strengthening the chain of survival and improving cardiac arrest outcomes throughout the county and beyond,” said Richard Price, President of the California-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit PulsePoint Foundation. “With broad community support and a track record of successful program implementation we believe PulsePoint Respond is a thoughtful and well-deserved addition to this Heartsafe Community.”

“We are committed to stimulate citizens to take ACTION to combat the #1 killer in their community”, said Dr. Vinay Nadkarni, President of the Citizen CPR Foundation. “This competition and the action of these communities is saving lives and creating citizen life-savers!”

About the PulsePoint Foundation

PulsePoint is a 501(c)(3) non-profit foundation based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Through the use of location-aware mobile devices, PulsePoint is building applications that work with local public safety agencies to improve communications with citizens, empowering them to help reduce the millions of annual deaths 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 iTunes and Google Play.

About the Citizen CPR Foundation

The Citizen CPR Foundation (CCPRF) is a non-profit organization whose mission is to save lives from sudden cardiac arrest by stimulating effective community, professional and citizen action. The core values for the Citizen CPR Foundation are that CPR saves lives; that Collaboration among citizens, professionals, communities, and organizations is key to survival from sudden cardiac arrest; and that action based on best practices in science, education, and implementation, improves outcomes. CCPRF serves as the home and planning host for the Emergency Cardiovascular Care Update (ECCU) conference held every 2 years. Learn more at citizencpr.org.

ECCU 2017

The Emergency Cardiovascular Update Conference (ECCU) is the only conference of its kind tailored to meet the educational needs of CPR Instructors and training agencies, paramedics, EMTs, nurses, physicians, researchers, managers, cardiac arrest survivors, and community champions.

It provides a dynamic forum for exchange of information, ideas, innovations, developments, and trends aimed at advancing the implementation of citizen CPR and ECC training. ECCU 2017 is taking place in New Orleans, December 5-8, 2017. The conference is presented by the Citizen CPR Foundation with its founding partners the American Red Cross, the American Heart Association and the Heart & Stroke Foundation of Canada. Learn more at eccu2017.com.

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Media Contacts

Shannon Smith
shannon@pulsepoint.org
(773) 339-7513

Monica Evans-Lombe
mevanslombe@wellingtonexperience.com
(913) 402-1881 x176

Source: CCPRF PulsePoint Press Release (PDF)