REDMOND, Wash. & PLEASANTON, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Physio-Control, the leading provider of emergency medical response technologies worldwide, and the PulsePoint Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to providing mobile technologies to help everyday citizens save lives, today announced that over 200 U.S. cities and communities, across six states will be launching new PulsePoint programs during American Heart Month (February). The communities initiating the program will be promoting the PulsePoint mobile phone app and expanding their citizen responder CPR and public access AED programs to millions of new potential citizen responders.
The PulsePoint app alerts CPR-trained citizens by smartphone of sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) emergencies in their proximity and provides the location of the nearest public access AEDs. Deployment of the PulsePoint app can significantly strengthen the “chain of survival” by improving bystander response to SCA victims in public settings and increasing the chance that lifesaving steps will be taken prior to the arrival of emergency medical services (EMS) professionals. Just two years after launching outside the San Ramon Valley, CA the PulsePoint app has been adopted by over 500 cities in 17 states.
“One of the most exciting things about the growth of PulsePoint is the increasing ability of CPR-trained individuals to share their lifesaving skills seamlessly across agency borders,” said Richard Price, President of the PulsePoint Foundation. "As these connected citizens travel to work, shop in a neighboring town, or travel to another State on vacation, they remain in reach within any PulsePoint-protected community."
“The multiple PulsePoint app launches taking place during American Heart Month show the power of community momentum around sudden cardiac awareness and the importance of using CPR and AEDs to impact survival rates,” said Physio-Control CEO and president, Brian Webster. “It’s exciting to partner with PulsePoint and communities across the country to expand the reach of lifesaving technologies to the citizen responders.”
Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest is a leading cause of death in the United States, accounting for an estimated 424,000 deaths each year, more than 1,000 deaths per day. The American Heart Association estimates that effective bystander CPR, provided immediately after cardiac arrest, can double or triple a person’s chance of survival. However, less than half of cardiac arrest victims receive bystander CPR and even fewer receive a potentially lifesaving therapeutic shock from a public access AED. Improving bystander CPR rates and access to AEDs is critical to survival.
Read more about the Emergency Cardiovascular Care 2020 Impact Goal of doubling out-of-hospital CPR bystander response.
“The American Heart Association is dedicated to strengthening the processes that can improve the chance of surviving sudden cardiac arrest to help save more lives,” said Robert W. Neumar, M.D., Ph.D., professor and chair of the University of Michigan Medical School’s Department of Emergency Medicine. “We are always thrilled to see innovative ways for communities to improve their Chain of Survival. In communities where awareness is high and the Chain of Survival is strong, the usual survival rates for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest can be doubled or tripled,” said Neumar, who serves as Chair of the American Heart Association’s Emergency Cardiovascular Care Committee.
Testimonials from February 14 PulsePoint app activations:
- “PulsePoint is the embodiment of a new generation of civic innovation. By combining the rising ubiquity of smartphones with public safety and citizen participation, a new model of community engagement emerges," said Jonathan Reichental, Ph.D., Chief Information Officer, City of Palo Alto. "PulsePoint brings data and social good to the forefront in saving lives and empowering a more active democracy. It’s the shape of things to come.”
- “We have been training our citizens in CPR and facilitating the placement of AEDs throughout our jurisdiction for many years. We're very excited to now have PulsePoint as the glue to bind it all together,” said Bryan Collins, Fire Chief for the Spokane Valley Fire District in Spokane Washington.
- “PulsePoint turns our individual CPR trained citizens into a powerful connected network of first responders,” said Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone. “By having the ability to alert these individuals to nearby CPR needed events, and informing them of the location of the closest public AED, we believe we can improve the odds of surviving a cardiac arrest on Long Island. We are proud to be the first agency to deploy PulsePoint on the East Coast.”
American Heart Month PulsePoint App launches include:
| Aberdeen Fire & Rescue (SD) | Palo Alto Fire Department (CA) | |
| Airway Heights (WA) | Rocky River Fire Department (OH) | |
| Anderson County Sheriff's Office (SC) | Santa Clara County Fire Department (CA) | |
| Bay Village Fire Department (OH) | Santa Clara Fire Department (CA) | |
| Chagrin Falls Fire Department (OH) | South Santa Clara County Fire District (CA) | |
| Chagrin Falls Suburban Fire Department (OH) | Spokane County Fire District 13 (WA) | |
| Clackamas Fire District 1 (OR) | Spokane County Fire District 3 (WA) | |
| Cleveland EMS (OH) | Spokane County Fire District 4 (WA) | |
| Fairview Park Fire Department (OH) | Spokane County Fire District 8 (WA) | |
| Gilroy Fire Department (CA) | Spokane County Fire District 9 (WA) | |
| Medical Lake Fire Department (WA) | Spokane Fire Department (WA) | |
| Milpitas Fire Department (CA) | Spokane Valley Fire Department (WA) | |
| Morgan Hill Fire Department/CAL FIRE (CA) | Suffolk County Fire, Rescue and Emergency Services (NY) | |
| Mountain View Fire Department (CA) | Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety (CA) | |
| North Ridgeville Fire Department (OH) |
Westlake Fire Department (OH) |
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Orange Village Fire Department (OH)
North Olmsted Fire Department (OH) |
Woodmere Fire Department (OH) |
About Physio-Control
Physio-Control, Inc. is headquartered in Redmond, Washington. The company operates in over 100 countries and is the world’s leading provider of professional emergency medical response solutions that predict or intervene in life threatening emergencies. To learn more visit Physio-Control.com, or connect with us at @PhysioControl , www.facebook.com/physiocontrolinc or www.linkedin.com/company/physio-control-inc-.
About the PulsePoint Foundation
PulsePoint is a 501(c)(3) non-profit foundation based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Its mission is to make it much easier for citizens who are trained in CPR to use their life saving skills to do just that…save lives! Through the use of modern, location-aware mobile devices PulsePoint is building applications that work with local public safety agencies to improve communications with citizens and empower them to help reduce the millions of annual deaths from sudden cardiac arrest. Learn more at www.pulsepoint.org or join the conversation at www.facebook.com/PulsePoint and @PulsePoint.
