Los Angeles and San Diego Counties have recently adopted a smartphone app with the ability to crowdsource trained CPR citizens from the surrounding area. Known as PulsePoint, the app was developed by Physio-Control, a company that produces automated external defibrillators (AED).
The app works in a similar fashion to the countless social apps on the iPhone and Android markets, by using GPS to match those in need of lifesaving care with the people who have been trained to save them. The true utility in PulsePoint comes from the app’s ability to significantly decrease initial response times to potentially fatal accidents. Though response times often average around 5 minutes, the first 3 are the most critical. PulsePoint is aimed at those who have been trained in CPR With the aid of a smartphone’s wireless connection, those with the app are alerted when someone is in need of possible lifesaving attention. Another feature included in the app is its ability to direct responders to the location of the nearest AED, if compression CPR isn’t yielding results.
Though PulsePoint has seen tremendous downloads, with over 13,000 to date, there are millions in Los Angeles and San Diego counties who might benefit from this app. The app, developed by Richard Price, a retired firefighter and founder of PulsePoint, was first adopted by San Jose in 2012. PulsePoint is a tremendous technology and with local governments in Arkansas and South Carolina adding PulsePoint to their lifesaving arsenal, PulsePoint is certainly gaining traction throughout the country.
The beauty of PulsePoint, beyond its ability to save lives of course, is that it relies on the very thorough infrastructure of smartphones—a technology in just about everyone’s reach regardless of income levels. Though PulsePoint is free to download for citizens, local emergency departments pay anywhere from 5,000 to 25,000, based on the amount of people served.
PulsePoint is one of those gems in the iPhone and Android marketplaces that takes a step beyond entertainment and has the ability to save lives. If you’d like more information on PulsePoint visit their website here, and download the app!
