Lifesaving CPR measures in Eugene and Springfield joined the smartphone era Wednesday with the official launch of the PulsePoint app for the metro area.
EMS Chief JoAnna Kamppi introduced PulsePoint at the Emergency Services Training Center, explaining how the app alerts users to cardiac arrests within a quarter mile of their location, so that people can respond to provide CPR before paramedics arrive and take over. An alert and GPS location is sent to PulsePoint as soon as 911 dispatch posts an emergency call.
The fire department hopes that the PulsePoint alert increases the survival rate of sudden cardiac arrests in the community. For every minute after a cardiac arrest, the survival rate decreases by 10 percent, according to Kamppi. Even when the response rate from EMS averages four to seven minutes, PulsePoint may mean the difference between life and death.