B.C. Emergency Health Services launched PulsePoint -

The British Columbia Health Services or BCEHS launched PulsePoint. It is a phone application for bystanders that can help a person with sudden cardiac arrest.

This new application aims to combat by alerting bystanders who are properly trained in CPR and a sudden cardiac arrest that happens in public places.

Timely intervention

An incident happened at the dressing room at Pitt Meadows Arena after a hockey game. A 49 year old man with three children went into cardiac arrest. Some of his teammates called the emergency numbers. His teammates do not recognize the signs of cardiac arrest nor did they know how to provide CPR or cardiopulmonary resuscitation. It is a life-saving technique done by pressing up and down the chest of the victim or chest compressions to mimic a heartbeat.

A player from the other teams was passing by and saw the incident. He immediately called his teammate, Bruce Moffat. He is a critical care flight paramedic and has 35 years of experience. He immediately helped and provided CPR on the man until first responders arrived after 13 minutes.

Without this immediate help, brain can be affected within 3 minutes of cardiac arrest. According to Moffat, the man would have died if CPR was not provided immediately.

Vancouver first aid — This new application aims to combat by alerting bystanders who are properly trained in CPR and a sudden cardiac arrest that happens in public places.

The Pulse Point application is for CPR-trained bystanders. It shows a map for the user pinpointing the places where portable public defibrillators can be found. This new phone application aims in preventing missed lifesaving opportunities such as CPR by alerting the users when somebody suffered cardiac arrest that happens in public places nearby.

According to Linda Luipini who is the executive vice-president of the Provincial Health Services Authority and the British Columbia Emergency Health Services, this application turns everyone from bystanders in becoming a potential life saver.

Furthermore Luipini said the survival rate of people in cardiac arrest is about 10% in the province. Even a bystander who is not properly trained in CPR can step in and provide life saving technique which can possibly increase the chance of the victim to be revived. You double or triple the chances of recovery by just performing some chest compressions for proper circulation of blood in the system.

This application will notify bystander about 400-meter radius and walking distance from the victim suffering from a sudden cardiac arrest.

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