Josephine County, Ore. — Josephine County said a new app is already saving lives. Police said the PulsePoint app is ‘like an amber alert for sudden cardiac arrest victims.’ It has the ability to notify people about local emergencies in the area. If someone close knows first aid, they can show up to help. The app launched in Josephine County last week and is already paying off.
The PulsePoint app just launched in Josephine County nine days ago – and already, officials are calling it a success.
“Been a week and we already had an alert and had somebody respond, so I call that a success right there,” said Marci Haack, 911 administrator for Josephine County.
New technology is giving emergency workers new tools to help save lives. Haack called the PulsePoint an amber alert for cardiac arrest.
“Signal on your phone like an amber alert for anyone that’s in cardiac arrest in a quarter-mile vicinity of where you’re at,” she said.
Connecting people in need, with people who can help.
“For all of the agencies that we dispatch for here in Josephine County, we all knew it was going to be a good program to have here,” she said.
Only a week and a half in action, and already it’s helping to save lives.
“On Monday, we took a cardiac arrest call at a restaurant on the north end of town,” she said.
There ended up being seven people within the quarter-mile vicinity. The notification grabbed the attention of two firefighters and three medical professionals.
“One of them was a nurse and she responded and she walked into the restaurant and asked if anyone needed CPR,” she said.
Though the patient didn’t need CPR, emergency workers said this is a perfect example of the good PulsePoint can do in the county.
“The app worked in getting help there before medic and fire responded,” she said.
Giving patients a better chance at survival, and community members an opportunity to put their skills to use.
“It’s not just for medical or fire personnel or first responders, it gives just a citizen who might be next door at another business to get an alert that says – someone needs CPR – and be able to start that process,” she said.
The 911 agency in Grants Pass said it plans to add the AED feature on the app in a couple months. If you’d like to download the PulsePoint app, you can do it straight from the app store on your mobile device. The app is also available in Jackson County as well.
© 2024 KOBI-TV NBC5. All rights reserved unless otherwise stated.