ETMC EMS to Launch PulsePoint Smartphone Application

TYLER — East Texas Medical Center EMS is the first in Texas to launch the PulsePoint CPR/AED smartphone application to help improve sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) survival rates in communities served by ETMC EMS in East Texas, Waco and Pasadena. The PulsePoint app helps improve community response to SCA victims by enabling citizen bystanders to provide lifesaving cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and access a nearby public access automated external defibrillator (AED).

�When someone experiences sudden cardiac arrest, time is critical. A victim will die within minutes unless they receive CPR and can have their heart restarted by a defibrillator,� said Ron Schwartz, vice president of ETMC EMS. �With only about one-quarter of cardiac arrest victims receiving CPR, PulsePoint increases the odds that CPR and defibrillation will be provided � even before emergency crews arrive � improving a victim�s chances of survival.�

“Emergency medicine is central to ETMC’s mission of saving lives in East Texas,” noted Elmer G. Ellis, president/CEO of the ETMC Regional Healthcare System. “PulsePoint will extend that emergency safety net through hundreds of individuals who choose to join this volunteer-based CPR network. We are excited about this community partnership that will save hearts and save lives.”

PulsePoint is integrated with the ETMC EMS computer aided dispatch system. Upon receiving a call regarding a suspected sudden cardiac arrest victim, the 911/emergency communication center activates an alert to PulsePoint app users simultaneously with the dispatch of local emergency medical services (EMS). Using a smart phone�s geolocation service, the app directs citizen responders within close proximity, via a live map, to the victim�s location and the nearest public access AED.

EMS officials have been meeting with local first responders about this new app and will help promote Pulsepoint in an effort to save more lives.

The PulsePoint app is available to the public free of charge for Apple iOS and Google Android devices from the Apple App Store and Google Play.