What if saving your life during a cardiac arrest was as easy as looking at your smart phone?
- Pulsepoint app alerts people who know CPR
- Manatee County incorporates app into 911 dispatch
- Hands-on CPR after cardiac arrest can almost triple survival chance
Manatee County officials say there is such an option. Pulsepoint is a free mobile app that alerts people trained in CPR if there's someone having an attack nearby.
The county has incorporated the app into its 911 dispatch.
As paramedics are dispatched, the alert goes out on the app, essentially notifying someone who may be closer to start administering CPR to the victim before emergency crews get there.
"As long as you know at least hands-on-only CPR, any citizen can download this application and potentially save a life in Manatee County," said the county's 911 chief, Jake Tower.
According to the American Heart Association, effective hands-only CPR immediately after a cardiac arrest can almost triple the chances of survival.
"I think very soon, you'll be talking about the good news story of a Manatee County citizen or visitor who helped save one of their fellow citizens during a cardiac arrest situation," said Public Safety Director Bob Smith.
Manatee County is the only jurisdiction in Tampa Bay using the Pulsepoint App.