KANSAS CITY, Mo. – A new app could help people save lives in Kansas City.
Dozens of emergency responders attended the launch of the PulsePoint app at Union Station Wednesday.
The app alerts users trained in hands-only CPR when someone suffers a sudden cardiac arrest nearby. The idea is that the user would be able to get to the patient faster than an emergency responder, potentially saving a life.
PulsePoint already has one million users in 2,500 cities in 33 states.
The free app covers six counties in the greater metro area: Wyandotte, Jackson, Johnson, Miami, Platte, and Clay.
“If you're within a quarter-mile walking distance of the individual who's been subject to cardiac arrest, you can move to that area, start CPR immediately,” KCK Fire Chief John Paul Jones said. “And that's that gap between the time that somebody who has cardiac arrest and when we get on the scene as far as emergency services, it triples the survival rate of that individual just by that early intervention.”
Heart Safe Coordinator Sarah Tufty said bystander CPR is key.
"This is the missing ingredient, so if you get in there and every minute that goes by that you are not doing CPR, you decrease your chances by 60 percent," Tufty said. "So we want people to get in there and start hands only CPR, basically you're acting as the heartbeat. So you want to get in there, intervene before our crews get there."
The app is available for Apple or Android phones.
To download the app, click here.
