A smart phone application may be able to increase the survival rate of Cardiac Arrest victims. The city of Sioux Falls is now utilizing this technology to connect people that need help with CPR responders. The Pulse Point smart phone app connects to the cities emergency dispatch system. When a Cardiac Arrest case is reported the system will alert a CPR responder through the App when they are in a public area. The use of GPS makes it possible to identify when the app user is within a half a mile of a Cardiac Arrest victim.
John Soderholm is the CEO of the Avera Heart Hospital in Sioux Falls. Soderholm says even a few minutes can make the difference of survival. “They have the fire department and the ambulance rolling, but it may be six or seven minutes before they get there. But if someone is just next door, or in the same building and says, wow I could walk or run over there and start CPR, we’ve saved three or four minutes, which is thirty or forty percent greater chance that that person is going to survive,” said Soderholm.
Soderholm says performing CPR is much easier now with the hands only method and he encourages people willing to be a responder to download the app. The app only alerts when the user and individual in need of help are in a public area. Right now Sioux Falls is one of only ten cities in the United States to use the Pulse Point technology.