VERONA, Va. — Augusta County’s Fire-Rescue department (ACFR) and Emergency Communications Center (911) in partnership with the Central Shenandoah Emergency Medical Services (CSEMS) Council have announced the adoption of PulsePoint AED to build a local registry of publicly available automated external defibrillators (AEDs). Public safety agencies are requesting that businesses and organizations download the free app, or use the web site, aed.new, to locate and report public AEDs.
PulsePoint AED allows users to register publicly available AEDs, which can be located on a map in the app and by 911 for quick access during a cardiac emergency. Early application of bystander CPR and rapid defibrillation from an AED have proven to be crucial in improving a person’s chance of surviving sudden cardiac arrest.
“With PulsePoint AED, we hope to create greater awareness throughout our community around the important role that AEDs and bystanders play in sudden cardiac arrest survival,” said Matt Lawler, Division Chief for Augusta County Emergency Medical Services. “Having an accurate AED registry within our community can greatly improve the odds that a nearby device will be accessible during a cardiac arrest event and can be used to help save a life.”
Throughout the year, Augusta County's emergency service agencies respond to over 150 cardiac arrest events, which would benefit from quick access to an AED.
In a 2018 study in the American Heart Association’s journal, Circulation, patients shocked by a bystander with an AED had a 54% higher survival rate. About 60% of sudden cardiac arrests in public places can be treated with an AED.
PulsePoint AED is a companion app to the PulsePoint Respond citizen app which was introduced in 2023. PulsePoint Respond is a free mobile phone app that creates an alert for cardiac incidents occurring in public locations, allowing nearby bystanders to help victims in the crucial minutes before professional emergency responders arrive.
About the PulsePoint Foundation
PulsePoint is a 501(c)(3) non-profit foundation based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Through the use of location-aware mobile devices, PulsePoint is building applications that work with local public safety agencies to improve communications with citizens, increase civic engagement and empower the community to help reduce the millions of annual deaths from sudden cardiac arrest. Learn more at pulsepoint.org or join the conversation at Facebook and Twitter. The free app is available for download on iTunes and Google Play.
About Sudden Cardiac Arrest
Although a heart attack can lead to sudden cardiac arrest (SCA), the two are not the same. SCA is when the heart malfunctions and suddenly stops beating unexpectedly, whereas a heart attack is when blood flow to the heart is blocked, but the heart continues to beat. Each year, more than 326,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests occur, making it the leading cause of death in the United States. Survival rates nationally for SCA are less than eight percent, but delivery of CPR can sustain life until paramedics arrive by maintaining vital blood flow to the heart and brain. However, only about a third of SCA victims receive bystander CPR. Without CPR, brain damage or death can occur in minutes. The average EMS response time is nine minutes, even in urban settings; after 10 minutes there is little chance of successful resuscitation. The American Heart Association estimates that effective bystander CPR, provided immediately after SCA, can double or triple a person’s chance of survival.
