To aid cardiac arrest victims quickly, Bend Fire & Rescue and the Deschutes County 9-1-1 Service District are making the PulsePoint app available to Central Oregonians.
The app alerts registered, CPR-certified users when a sudden cardiac arrest occurs in a nearby public place so they can get to the scene and start CPR in the critical minutes before EMS teams arrive. The app also allows registered users to locate nearby automatic external defibrillators (AEDs).
The PulsePoint partnership was formally launched Wednesday, Feb. 10th at Deschutes County 9-1-1. Representatives from Bend Fire & Rescue, the Black Butte Ranch Fire District, Cloverdale RFPD, Crooked River Ranch Fire & Rescue, Redmond Fire & Rescue, the Sisters-Camp Sherman Fire District and Sunriver Fire & Rescue announced the availability of the app.
“Public engagement can improve survival rates in cardiac arrest cases,” said Steve O’Malley, Bend Fire Deputy Chief of EMS Operations. “The Bend Fire Department has had a long-standing mission of improving cardiac arrest survival and we’ve made incredible strides. Dispatchers are involved. Bend Police has a role. This is the tool that now allows us to also notify anyone in the public who is willing to do CPR in a public place. This technology is the next piece in the chain of survival.”
Central Oregon residents can download the PulsePoint App through the iTunes Store™ and Google Play™. Businesses can download the PulsePoint AED App, which allows them to register locations of publicly accessible AEDs. Once validated, these crowdsourced AEDs will be visible in the PulsePoint app.