PulsePoint Partners with Cardiac Arrest Survivor Alliance and Heartsight to Address Citizen Responder Mental Health

Specially-trained, on-the-ground resources provided by local public safety agencies round out the initiative.

PLEASANTON, Calif. (Aug. 20, 2024) – Many factors contribute to the psychological distress a lay responder may experience after witnessing a sudden cardiac arrest. These include the unknown or fatal outcome of the patient, the stressful and disorienting environment of a life-threatening medical emergency, self-doubt regarding preparedness or performance, and the once-in-a-lifetime nature of this type of event.

The PulsePoint Foundation requests the immediate assistance of hundreds of CPR-trained and AED-equipped responders every day. Through a new mental health initiative, PulsePoint is providing focused mental health resources to responders after a cardiac arrest “CPR-needed” alert.

“Because PulsePoint has the ability to contact responders after they participate in a cardiac arrest incident, the Foundation is in a unique position to help address distressing thoughts related to their experience,” said Halle Price, mental health researcher at the PulsePoint Foundation. “Although the vast majority of PulsePoint responders are not affected, it doesn't lessen the need to offer meaningful resources for those who may benefit from them.”

PulsePoint has partnered with the Cardiac Arrest Survivor Alliance™ (CASA) and Heartsight to provide informational resources, peer support, and access to mental health professionals with cardiac arrest response expertise. Both organizations are well known, and well respected for their commitment to the cardiac arrest survivor community.

CASA, a place for everyone affected by cardiac arrest, offers a free online peer support community for patients, families, rescuers, and advocates. CASA is led by a volunteer advisory board that includes survivors, co-survivors, physicians, psychologists, and other experts. CASA provides evidence-based information resources, meetups, webinars, and access to experts to help community members recover, re-engage, and thrive.

Heartsight offers a free, online, lay-friendly, informational resource in multiple languages that combines evidence-based content and lived-experience insights. It is co-designed and co-created by an all-volunteer, multidisciplinary, diverse team of patient-family stakeholders, lay rescuers, first responders, clinicians, and researchers.

“We are pleased to partner with PulsePoint to provide mental health resources for lay rescuers within the Cardiac Arrest Survivor Alliance (CASA),” said Mary Newman, MS, Sudden Cardiac Arrest Foundation president. “The CASA community includes many rescuers, some of whom provided CPR for their loved ones. We believe these resources will strengthen their ability to navigate healthy paths forward.”

“We are thrilled to embark on this new partnership with PulsePoint, a collaboration that marks the beginning of a transformative journey,” said Sachin Agarwal, MD, MPH, Heartsight team. “While we encourage the public to take action to help save a life from cardiac arrest, it’s imperative that we help those who help others by meeting them where they are with supportive resources. Together, we are poised to leverage PulsePoint’s innovative approach and Heartsight’s trusted resources to drive meaningful impact and deliver unprecedented value in our shared mission of supporting psychological well-being for anyone affected by cardiac arrest.”

The partnership between PulsePoint, CASA and Heartsight in concert with local agency resources, all aimed at providing mental health support for lay responders, is the collaborative effort needed to address the emotional impact of cardiac arrest response. By providing awareness to agency personnel that already provide mental health support after traumatic situations, such as a department chaplain or crisis intervention team member, these on-the-ground resources can also assist affected lay responders.

"The community plays a crucial role in the cardiac arrest chain of survival, and it's essential that public safety agencies support those who report distress after an incident," said Nathan Trauernicht, UC Davis Fire Department, fire chief. "PulsePoint helps by alerting local agencies when a responder is in distress, giving us the chance to deploy resources we already have in place to help individuals facing the challenges of a traumatic emergency response."

About the PulsePoint Foundation (www.pulsepoint.org)
PulsePoint is a public 501(c)(3) non-profit foundation that builds applications for use by public safety agencies to increase community awareness during critical events. The PulsePoint Respond mobile app notifies trained individuals of the nearby need for CPR and the PulsePoint AED registry identifies AED (automated external defibrillator) locations for use by the public and 9-1-1 telecommunicators during emergency call taking. PulsePoint also provides specialized mobile apps for professional responders. The free apps, PulsePoint Respond and PulsePoint AED, are available for download on the App Store and Google Play.

About Cardiac Arrest Survivor Alliance™ (www.casahearts.org)
Cardiac Arrest Survivor Alliance™, a program established in 2022 by the Sudden Cardiac Arrest Foundation, is a place for anyone touched by cardiac arrest. CASA fosters an online community for patients, families, friends, caregivers, rescuers, and advocates. Peer support, information resources, and access to experts help community members recover, re-engage, and thrive. CASA is a home for hope and healing.

About Heartsight (www.ourheartsight.com)
Heartsight is the flagship initiative of Resuscitation Council US, a New York City 501(c)(3) non-profit established in 2023 to improve cardiac arrest outcomes and support survivorship. Heartsight’s mission is to provide a free, high-quality, comprehensive, accessible online resource that combines evidence-based content and lived experience insights aimed at reducing uncertainty and emotional distress of anyone impacted by cardiac arrest.

About Sudden Cardiac Arrest
Although a heart attack can lead to sudden cardiac arrest (SCA), the two are not the same. SCA occurs 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. Each year, nearly 360,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests occur, making it the leading cause of death in the United States. Survival rates nationally for SCA are about ten 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 average EMS response time is nine minutes, even in urban settings; after 10 minutes there is little chance of successful resuscitation. The American Heart Association estimates that effective bystander CPR, provided immediately after SCA, can double or triple a person’s chance of survival.

Media Contacts
Shannon Smith, PulsePoint Foundation
(773) 339-7513
shannon@pulsepoint.org

Mary Newman, Cardiac Arrest Survivor Alliance
mary.newman@sca-aware.org

Isabella Tincher, Heartsight
contact@ourheartsight.com