Every year in this country, an estimated 155,000 people are treated for cardiac arrest by emergency medical teams, but fewer than 10% survive. Now, some communities in the Commonwealth are adopting a new technology designed to recruit volunteers who can begin CPR even before an ambulance arrives.
When the heart stop, so does circulation, and the brain is deprived of oxygen, but if cardio-pulmonary resuscitation begins quickly, the odds of surviving and thriving increase according to Dr. William Brady, a professor of emergency medicine at the University of Virginia.
“The treatment of cardiac arrest is incredibly time-sensitive where quite literally seconds make a difference between life and death,” he says.
Unfortunately, it takes some time for professional help to arrive.
“On average 8-12 minutes,” explains Brady.
So Brady has worked with the fire departments in Charlottesville and Albemarle County to launch PulsePoint.
“Someone that is interested, able and willing to help out in treatment of cardiac arrest downloads the free app to their smart phone,” he says. “They go to the app store, put in the words PulsePoint, search, complete the very simple registration, and then they’re ready to go.”
If emergency dispatch gets word of a cardiac arrest, volunteers get a text.
And those who are within .8 miles receive an audio alert.
Brady says people should not hesitate because they lack medical credentials.
“With basic awareness of CPR, whether that’s formal training or some other process you’ve gone through, you can perform life-saving interventions,” he explains. “People who receive bystander care early – within the first couple of minutes – have a 3-6 times greater chance of survival compared to someone that receives no care until the fire department arrives.”
The app provides illustrations and sounds to help laymen pace themselves when doing compressions, and a second app – PulsePoint AED – helps locate Automatic External Defibrillators in public places.
“An AED will tell you what to do. It gives you voice prompts for every step of the way, and they are very safe devices,” Brady adds. “It is very difficult to harm someone with an AED.”
Stafford County was an early adopter of PulsePoint in 2017, followed by Lynchburg in 2018, Richmond in 2019 and Chesterfield County earlier this year.
