'Download This CPR App,' Lakewood Tells Residents

LAKEWOOD, OH — The city believes an app called PulsePoint could help save lives. That's why officials are asking residents to download the app onto their phones.

So what is PulsePoint? It's a map-based alert app that tells CPR-trained users (and non-trained users) when someone is going into sudden cardiac arrest nearby. The goal of the app is to reduce collapse-to-CPR response times, as well as collapse-to-defibrillation times.

Lakewood was one of the first fire departments in Ohio to sign up for the PulsePoint app. The city's dispatch network is now linked to the app's software, making PulsePoint aware when someone goes into cardiac arrest nearby.

“This service allows anyone to be notified when Lakewood Fire Department is responding to emergencies,” Fire Chief Scott Gilman said. “The app also contains information on how to do CPR and the location of registered AEDs. I would also encourage all businesses in the city to register their AEDs with the fire department so the location will show when an emergency occurs nearby.”

Additionally, proximity matters. The emergency app will only alert users if there's a crisis within a quarter mile of their location.

According to PulsePoint, more than half of American adults have had some kind of CPR training. Yet only 11 percent of those adults have ever actually performed CPR. Since PulsePoint went live it has been used for more than 32,000 cardiac arrest events and has been downloaded by 94,976 users.

Learn more about the app by clicking here.

Photo from Rick Uldricks, Patch