New App Could Save Lives In Lakewood

LAKEWOOD, OH — Lakewood is one of Northeast Ohio's first fire departments to sign-up for the PulsePoint program and app. The app connects to the city's dispatch network and identifies when and where someone may be in need of CPR. App users are then alerted when they are near an emergency situation, giving them an opportunity to provide emergency CPR or other aid.

"It's an app to help save lives," said Mary Sidell, the city's Cleveland Clinic EMS coordinator.

PulsePoint will only alert users when an emergency takes place in a public place. Users will never be asked to enter a private residence. (Subscribe to the Patch Lakewood newsletter for local news and updates.)

Additionally, proximity matters. The emergency app will only alert users if there's a crisis within a quarter mile of their location. For example, Sidell said, if a user is shopping at a grocery store and someone collapses at a store nearby, an alert will be sent to that user's phone.

The app can be downloaded by anyone. Special training is not necessarily needed. At the very least, Sidell said, a user could help locate the closest AED and bring it to the scene.

"Those are easy to use," she told Patch. "The hardest thing about them is turning them on."

Sidell said the city wants to get more people signed up to use the PulsePoint app. She notes that if first aid is administered to someone in crisis prior to an ambulance arriving, the chance of that person surviving goes up.

Lakewood Fire Department does not currently offer CPR certification classes. However, Sidell has been attending Lakewood High School football games and teaching compression techniques to groups.

"We’re working on getting a community CPR class," Sidell said. "We suggest the Wellness Center on Wooster and Center Ridge, they teach classes. There's CPR Ohio. We do suggest where people can go. You can also get certified online."

More information on the PulsePoint app can be found by clicking here.

Photo from Rick Uldricks, Patch