The UC Davis Fire Department launched PulsePoint, a smartphone application which will allow community members to provide life-saving assistance to victims of Sudden Cardiac Arrest.

The PulsePoint app was developed to alert community CPR-trained responders of nearby emergencies in public areas involving victims of cardiac arrest. Using GPS technology, the app will notify all responders within a half-mile radius of their current location, the location of the patient, and the location of public‐access AEDs nearby.

The UC Davis and City of Davis Fire Departments, in cooperation with the City of Davis Dispatch Center, are pleased to announce the launch of PulsePoint, an innovative, Global Positioning System (GPS) powered iPhone and Android application which will allow community members to provide life‐saving assistance to victims of Sudden Cardiac Arrest.

1,000 Americans die every day from sudden cardiac arrest, but many of these deaths might be prevented through the rapid initiation of CPR and the deployment of an automated external defibrillator (AED). The PulsePoint app was created to alert community responders trained in CPR to nearby emergency events in public areas involving unconscious, unresponsive patients that may require CPR. Using location technology in the community responder’s mobile device, the app will notify all responders within an effective radius of their current location, the location of the patient, and the location of any public‐access AEDs nearby. The PulsePoint app is to be used in conjunction with the dispatch of Fire Department resources, minimizing the delay between the cardiac arrest and the start of life‐saving CPR.

On the UC Davis campus, there are approximately 90 AEDs available for use in incidents of sudden cardiac arrest. Of those 90, more than 70 are located in facilities accessible by community responders at any given time. These AEDs are displayed in the PulsePoint app’s map feature at all times, allowing those trained in CPR and the use of AEDs to become familiar with the location of these life‐ saving devices prior to deployment in an emergency event.

In addition to notifications of sudden cardiac arrest, the PulsePoint app offers subscribers the ability to monitor radio traffic between both Fire Departments and the City of Davis Dispatch Center. The app also allows you to visualize emergency incidents plotted on the interactive map, and set alerts for events like structure fires and vehicle accidents within our community. Lastly, the App offers a mobile‐formatted feed of Departments’ images from incidents and events, keeping you in touch with your fire department.

Without intervention, a cardiac arrest victim has approximately 6 minutes before oxygen deprivation causes damage to the sensitive tissues of the brain. CPR sustains tissue oxygenation until more advanced care can arrive. Community responders are crucial in the Cardiac Chain of Survival, and the PulsePoint App works to minimize delay between cardiac arrest and the delivery of CPR.

In partnership with the PulsePoint Foundation, whose goal it is to empower trained community responders to use their life saving skills, deployment of the PulsePoint application in both UC Davis and City of Davis communities comes at no cost to the communities.

"The UC Davis Fire Department was one of the first eight agencies in the country to go-live with PulsePoint.  It's an honor to be part of such exciting technology that makes a difference in lives every single day." - Nathan Trauernicht, Fire Chief