Richard Price was having lunch when he heard the familiar sound of an approaching siren. To his surprise, the paramedics pulled up right in front of the restaurant. Someone next door was lying unconscious and unresponsive after collapsing. Richard was a veteran 30-year firefighter and was just feet from this cardiac arrest victim — but completely unaware of their peril.
At that moment he realized just how much fate or good luck is involved in having a CPR-trained individual in the exact right place at the exact right time. As fire chief, he spent years training as many people as possible in CPR and placing defibrillators (AEDs) throughout the community.
He wondered if technology could help match skills and need in real time. That idea turned into PulsePoint, an app that empowers everyday citizens to provide lifesaving assistance to victims of sudden cardiac arrest. The idea was to use a person's mobile phone just like a firefighter's radio and dispatch everyday citizens, CPR-trained individuals, to nearby events using the GPS capabilities of their mobile phone.
PulsePoint relays information to the phones of nearby off-duty professionals, like Richard Price, and other CPR-trained citizens to improve the odds of delivering early CPR and early defibrillation - and it's working.
PulsePoint is being used in more than 20 states and 1,000 cities across the country. More than one-third of California communities are covered by the app. PulsePoint gets letters from people whose lives have been saved — it's why they do what they do.
So if you're CPR trained and willing to do your part to save a life, PulsePoint really encourages you to download the app:
http://www.ourhealthcalifornia.org/PulsePoint/download
And if you're not yet CPR trained, find a certified CPR training course near you and be prepared:
http://www.ourhealthcalifornia.org/PulsePoint/CPR-training
Richard Price, Founder/President of PulsePoint Foundation, thanks you for stepping up and helping to keep California healthy and safe. If you would like more information about the PulsePoint Foundation, go to www.pulsepoint.org.
Get the App. Locate AEDs in your neighborhood. Save A Life.
Allison Gingold
Los Angeles Affiliate
Sudden Cardiac Arrest Foundation
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