MILTON, Ga. — The cities of Milton and Alpharetta in northern Fulton County are using PulsePoint, a free app that alerts CPR-trained volunteers to medical emergencies occurring nearby. This allows volunteers to contact heart attack victims quickly.
Milton Fire Rescue Capt. Mark Haskins said the two neighboring cities installed the new system in mid-November.
“In fact, the PulsePoint app allows us to immediately direct people to cardiac arrest outside of the hospital and immediately begin CPR on these people, even before we arrive on the scene. ,” Haskins said Thursday.
The fire department posts the address of the emergency on the app, along with a map and directions, for people the app determines are only a block or two away from the scene of the incident. The companion app displays the location of the nearest His AED.
This app does not share personal information about people who need help.
“We want as many people as possible to download the app and respond within the city limits,” Haskins said. “The chance of survival for someone who is not given CPR actually decreases by about 10 percent every minute.”
PulsePoint shares success stories from across the country on its website, showing data collected since the app was first launched in 2010.
According to PulsePoint, volunteer responders have been able to assist in nearly 2 million sudden cardiac arrests. According to PulsePoint, volunteers were able to begin CPR on cardiac patients an average of 2 minutes and 49 seconds before first responders arrived.
“Bystanders or family members may call 911,” Haskins said. So what we want to do is find someone trained in CPR. Because if you show up even a minute or two before we arrive, you can save someone’s life. ”
And Haskins pointed out that Good Samaritan is protected from any liability under Georgia law. Also, this app only works in publicly accessible locations. We do not send volunteers to private property.
Haskins said he expects first responders to arrive at medical emergencies in the near future and find many people already on the scene asking for help.
“We know the app works, and we’re excited to put it into practice here in Milton.”
The city of College Park, which straddles Fulton and Clayton counties, has been using PulsePoint since 2015. 11Alive reached out to College Park to find out about their experience with PulsePoint, but did not hear back.