New app alerts CPR-trained residents when someone nearby is suffering cardiac arrest
Chiefs from more than a dozen fire departments gathered in Glendale Tuesday afternoon as the Verdugo Fire Communications Center unveiled a new tool that may help save the life of someone suffering a cardiac arrest.
With a simple cellphone app, someone’s chance of survival could jump from 10% to about 38%, officials said. Called PulsePoint, it sends users trained in CPR a notification that someone within a quarter mile of their location is going through a sudden cardiac arrest.
The app will provide directions to that person as well as the location of a nearby automated external defibrillator.
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“The earlier you can start CPR, the more effective the save,” said Don Wise, executive administrator of the communications center. “What we’re trying to do is create citizen engagement and involvement — sort of like crowdsourcing but to help with a cardiac arrest.”
The more people who have the app, the more lives potentially saved, he said.
Angelica Loza-Gomez, medical director for the Glendale Fire Department and the communications center, said the survival rate from a cardiac arrest dramatically shoots up when aid is provided immediately versus waiting for paramedics to arrive.
She said something as simple as pumping someone’s chest could mean the difference between life and death.
Burbank Fire Chief Tom Lenahan said during the presentation that having the app will help improve response times and efficiency in providing aid.
The app is integrated with Verdugo Fire’s 911 system and only sends an alert with certain keywords that would indicate a cardiac event. Wise said someone could potentially receive a PulsePoint alert while the initial 911 call is still in progress.
The communications center is currently under a five-year, $120,000 contract with PulsePoint for the app with money coming from the 14 fire agencies that make up the Verdugo Fire Communications Center — which includes Burbank, Glendale and Pasadena.
“If we consider that cost in terms of saving a life, it’s really nominal,” Wise said. “We’re serving a residential community of 800,000 that could potentially benefit from this app.”
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Andy Nguyen, andy.nguyen@latimes.com
Twitter: @Andy_Truc
