The PulsePoint Respond app alerts hands-only CPR-trained citizens to cardiac events in their vicinity so they may administer aid
NORFOLK, VA – Norfolk Fire-Rescue, Eastern Virginia Medical School (EVMS) and the PulsePoint Foundation have partnered to extend life-saving technology in Norfolk through the PulsePoint Respond app. The PulsePoint Respond app empowers hands-only CPR-trained citizens and off-duty professionals to provide critical assistance to cardiac arrest victims.
“The creation of innovative services is a priority for this administration, and I am excited that this life saving app was developed in partnership with EVMS,” said Mayor Kenneth Cooper Alexander.
The award-winning PulsePoint mobile app, now in more than 2,800 communities nationwide, can be used by anyone who has been trained in hands-only CPR. The app alerts citizens of cardiac events in their vicinity so they may administer aid while professional responders are in route. Public safety communications centers send alerts through the app at the same time they dispatch first responders to the scene. The app also informs responders and emergency dispatchers of nearby public Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs). Early application of bystander CPR and rapid defibrillation from an AED have proven to be crucial in improving a person’s chance of surviving sudden cardiac arrest. PulsePoint is not limited to emergency responders or those with official CPR certification.
Development and outreach for PulsePoint is funded in part by Eastern Virginia Medical School.
“EVMS is honored to collaborate on PulsePoint,” says Cynthia Romero, MD, Director of the M. Foscue Brock Institute for Community and Global Health at EVMS. “The PulsePoint app will now combine with the Bystander CPR training our students conduct throughout the city to enable more Norfolk residents to save lives. We’re grateful to be part of this unique — and vital —lifesaving effort in our hometown community.”
According to the American Heart Association (AHA), each year more than 350,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests occurs in the United States. The AHA estimates that effective hands-only CPR provided immediately after a cardiac emergency can double or triple a person’s chance of survival, but only 46 percent of sudden cardiac arrest victims received bystander CPR in 2017. Even fewer receive a potentially lifesaving therapeutic shock from a public access AED. Hands-only CPR has been shown to be as effective as conventional CPR for cardiac arrest at home, at work or in public spaces.
Norfolk Residents can call Norfolk Cares at 757-664-6510 to receive information on available hands-only CPR training. For more information on PulsePoint, visit www.pulsepoint.org. The free app is available for download on
iTunes and
Google Play.