A cellphone app designed to notify nearby first responders recently aided in the rescue of a Seattle cardiac patient.
The patient, Stephen DeMont, was standing at a bus stop in front of University of Washington Medical Center Friday when he collapsed, according to an Associated Press report published by The Washington Post.
A medical student hurried to Mr. DeMont and began chest compressions, while a nearby cardiac nurse was alerted by the PulsePoint app on her phone. The nurse quickly got outside and assisted until paramedics arrived, according to the report.
Mr. DeMont, 60, is now walking, and talking about the app and how it helped save his life, according to the report.
PulsePoint AED, which works through a city's 911 system, allows users to report automated external defibrillator and locations and update AED locations so emergency responders, including residents nearby trained in CPR and off-duty professionals such as firefighters, police officers and nurses, can find an AED close to them when a cardiac emergency occurs, according to the PulsePoint website.
The app was developed by Richard Price, a former fire chief in Northern California.
He told the Associated Press he came up with the idea in 2009, when he was at a restaurant and heard sirens from his crews at the San Ramon Valley fire department. The crews subsequently arrived at the same restaurant.
"The patient was unconscious, unresponsive. I was 20 feet away on the other side of the wall," Mr. Price said in the report. "The whole time I was listening to that siren, I could have been making a difference."
At present, the app is being used in 2,000 U.S. cities in 28 states.
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