I had the honor of joining the Santa Cruz Regional 911 Center and local public safety agencies, including Aptos/La Selva Fire, at the recent rollout of the Pulse Point mobile app. Local residents that download the Pulse Point application, and who are trained in CPR, can now be notified if someone nearby is having a cardiac emergency. As you know, seconds count during a cardiac incident, and the ability to perform CPR before emergency medical responders arrive can increase the chances of survival. In addition, the mobile app also directs people to the location of the closest Automated External Defibrillator (AED) to assist in a cardiac event. Aptos/La Selva Fire Chief Jeff Terpstra learned about the app and shared information about it with the Santa Cruz Regional 911 (Dispatch) Center. Santa Cruz Regional 911 funded the purchase of the application through grant funding to bring it countywide.
How does it work?
When someone calls 911 regarding a cardiac emergency the dispatch center makes simultaneous notifications to emergency medical responders and, via the PulsePoint app, anyone within the area that is CPR-trained and has indicated their willingness and ability to assist during such an emergency. According to Pulse Point, these notifications are “only made if the victim is in a public place and only to potential rescuers that are in the immediate vicinity (generally walking distance) of the emergency.” Users receive an alert tone on their phone and a map showing the location of the incident. These citizen responders then can perform CPR, chest compressions or use an AED on the victim if needed before emergency responders arrive. This immediate response may increase the chance of survival for the victim.
How can you learn CPR?
The local Red Cross and the Aptos/La Selva Fire District (as well as many local fire agencies) offer free CPR training. Call Aptos/La Selva Fire at 685-6690 to learn the class schedule.
Even if you don’t know CPR (or don’t want to use CPR function of the app) the mobile application provides a unique way to learn about what our local fire agencies are doing on a day-to-day basis. It has a function where you can view real-time incidents of local fire agencies. Aptos/La Selva Fire, Central Fire and Cal Fire are all local partners on the app. This means that in addition to CPR notifications, the application provides real-time access to emergency activity of these agencies (and other local participating fire agencies) as it’s occurring in our neighborhoods allowing you to find out just why that local fire unit was in your neighborhood. This is a great way for our community to learn more about our local emergency responders, and for those that are CPR trained, it offers a unique way to potentially save a life.
I applaud all of the local public safety agencies and the Santa Cruz Regional 911 Center for taking the lead on providing all of this information to the community and for leveraging technology in a way that may just save a Santa Cruz County resident’s life.
The mobile app is free to download and available on both the Apple and Droid platforms.
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As always, I’d love to hear from you. Feel free to contact me at 454-2200 with your questions or comments.