By James Careless, All Things FirstNet

Every day in the United States, about 1,000 people suffer cardiac arrests. Every minute that passes between a cardiac arrest and the administration of aid decreases their chance of survival by 10%. Clearly, the sooner that medical assistance arrives, the better.

Speeding the arrival of help is the goal of the PulsePoint Foundation (PulsePoint), a 501(c)(3) public nonprofit organization. Mindful that even the fastest-dispatched EMS and fire agencies can take precious minutes to arrive, PulsePoint recruits CPR-trained volunteers to step in when they are closer to the scene. This is possible due to these volunteers running the free PulsePoint Respond app on their smartphones (available in Android and Apple iOS), and living in jurisdictions whose local 911 centers have registered to forward cardiac-related calls to PulsePoint as the calls come in.

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By Dr. Michael Sayre, MD, Medical Director for the Seattle Fire Department and PulsePoint and Professor of Emergency Medicine at University of Washington

The unsettling collapse of Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin during a Monday Night Football game brought sudden cardiac arrest to the attention of millions of Americans. Surviving sudden cardiac arrest relies on immediate medical attention, including cardiopulmonary resuscitation and AED (automated external defibrillator) use. Mr. Hamlin was fortunate in that he was quickly surrounded by medical professionals armed with an emergency action plan, and experienced paramedics joined them within minutes. Now, even with the best, most rapid care, Americans are learning that recovery from cardiac arrest takes time.

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CASE STUDY / APRIL 2021

Alaska’s Fairbanks North Star Borough sought to address the rural community challenges of low bystander engagement and slower response times in out-of-hospital sudden cardiac arrest response. As part of a comprehensive strategy that included participation in the C.A.R.E.S. Registry and Resuscitation Academy, bystander CPR training, CPR and AED awareness programs, and strategic AED placement, Fairbanks launched PulsePoint May 2019.

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The AHA’s 2020 CPR Guidelines Recommend Emergency Dispatch Systems Alert Willing Bystanders Through Mobile Phone Technology, Like PulsePoint, to Assist in CPR and AED Retrieval

The 2020 American Heart Association (AHA) Guidelines for Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) and Emergency Cardiovascular Care (ECC) were just released to include updated CPR guidelines that direct emergency dispatch systems to use mobile technology to activate early bystander response in sudden cardiac emergencies. The PulsePoint Respond app, the North American standard in alerting willing bystanders to CPR-needed events, is currently in more than 4000 communities and has built a network of more than 2.5 million subscribers.

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