Area PulsePoint app saving lives in Johnson County

Hunter
10/28/22

A new app introduced this year to alert users when someone nearby is experiencing a sudden cardiac arrest has significantly increased the survival rates of those patients.

The Daily Iowan reports that the PulsePoint app, introduced in February, and has two applications; the general notification app, and one that helps identify where automated external difibrillators are located in the county.

The app’s goal is to get people suffering from a cardiac arrest immediate help, whether it be basic CPR or the use of a defibrillator. Johnson County Ambulance Service Director Fiona Johnson told the paper that PulsePoint encourages bystander intervention. When that happens, survival rates are 32 percent, compared to the national average of 10.1 percent. Bystander rates for CPR are even higher, at 63.8 percent, higher than the national average of 40.2 percent.

The PulsePoint app is downloadable on both Apple and Android phones.