NEWS

New phone app connects CPR responders to those in need

Jason Pohl
jasonpohl@coloradoan.com

Someone clenches their chest and collapses in front of you on Spring Creek Trail. Or in Old Town Square. Or at the office.

It's clear they need CPR.

There's an app for that.

After months of tinkering with technology and years of planning, the City of Fort Collins and Poudre Fire Authority this month launched PulsePoint, an application for smartphones that connects CPR-trained residents with nearby patients in need, theoretically cutting down the time someone goes before getting the basic medical help they need.

When someone calls 911 to report a cardiac emergency — and after dispatchers code it as a call requiring CPR — the location-based service will send out push notifications to app users within a designated radius. Users can then open that alert, bring up a map with directions to get to the location of the emergency and locate the nearest automated external defibrillator.

The app is only activated for incidents in public places, determined based on prior computer programming within the jurisdiction. PFA is among just a handful of agencies in Colorado that use the program.

"We're hoping that this does make a big, positive difference in somebody's life," Capt. Patrick Love said.

While it may take several minutes for medical crews to get to a scene, a CPR-trained passerby could be there in seconds. That's a ton of time in the world of cardiac emergencies, where survival rates drop by about 10 percent for every minute a victim of sudden cardiac arrest waits for CPR. Brain damage occurs within six minutes, and few resuscitation attempts are successful after 10 minutes.

In addition to paging trained residents to CPR-required scenes, the app is constantly updating the list of calls fire crews have been dispatched to. That means if you're wondering why traffic is backed up on College Avenue or why fire trucks just went screaming past your home at 3 a.m., you can open the main screen and get basic call information in real time.

Discussions about the program started about two years ago, and development began in mid-2014 ahead of a soft roll-out in August and the complete launch last week.

PFA budgeted $75,000 for the program, funded through the Keeping Fort Collins Great sales tax. Included in that cost is the $12,500 for the software and a $5,000 annual maintenance fee. Any remaining funds from the program will be used to market the system and teach CPR to potential responders.

The app works throughout the agency's approximately 235-square-mile jurisdiction, which includes all of Fort Collins, Timnath, Bellvue, LaPorte and surrounding rural areas.

PulsePoint is a nonprofit based in the San Francisco Bay area, and the first versions of the app launched about three years ago. It has been implemented in hundreds of agencies around the country.

The app is available for free download through the Apple App store or Google Play. There is also a separate AED application that allows residents to register locations of publicly accessible defibrillators. Additional information about the program can be found online at www.pulsepoint.org.

Reporter Jason Pohl covers breaking news for the Coloradoan. Follow him on Twitter: @pohl_jason.