[Scan-DC] PulsePoint

[Alan Henney]

Interesting article on PulsePoint.  Good points too about real-time
transparency.  I check the DC and PG PulsePoint occasionally.  Who else
uses it in this area?


Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (Little Rock)

October 1, 2018 Monday

Rogers Fire Department app wins Citizen Service Award

BYLINE: MIKE JONES NWA DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE

SECTION: ARKANSAS

LENGTH: 879 words

ABOUT THE AWARD

The awards program recognizes government offices usibg technology to
provide better service and reduce costs to taxpayers. The Citizen Service
Award "recognizes government offices that have used technology to provide
improved service to citizens." Judges reviewed more than 50 nominations and
chose winners and finalists in each category, and presented them at an
award ceremony Sept. 14 in Little Rock.

Source: Rogers-Lowell Area

Chamber of Commerce

ROGERS - Fire Chief Tom Jenkins couldn't predict the impact PulsePoint
would have when his department became a subscriber in 2014. Today, he says
it's probably one of the best investments the city has made.

PulsePoint is a location-driven iPhone and Android application allowing
Rogers residents to provide life-saving assistance to victims of sudden
cardiac arrest. App subscribers who have indicated they are trained in CPR
are alerted if someone nearby may require CPR, according to a Rogers-Lowell
Area Chamber of Commerce news release.

Sudden cardiac arrest is the unexpected loss of heart function, breathing
and consciousness, according to the Mayo Clinic.

"We celebrated with a little fanfare when we first got it," Jenkins said.
"It's paid some of the best dividends ever. It's phenomenal. 2014 was a
watershed moment."

The Fire Department recently won the Citizen Service Award for its
PulsePoint app at the Information Network of Arkansas's 2018 Arkansas
Digital Government Transformation Awards.

PulsePoint is a California-based nonprofit company founded by a fire chief
in the San Ramon Valley. Today, more than 3,200 cities and counties use
PulsePoint, Jenkins said. Rogers pays about $6,000 a year to continue the
service.

The Fire Department began to track sudden cardiac arrests in 2009. The data
showed a survival rate of 7 percent. "That was not success," Jenkins said.

Rogers began to look at what other cities were doing to combat sudden
cardiac arrest. Jenkins said Rochester, Minn., and Seattle, both with
survival rates of about 50 percent, were studied.

Rogers has had a cardiac arrest survival rate of between 40 percent and 50
percent since 2012, Jenkins said. The national average is around 9 percent,
according to the American Heart Association.

Jenkins cited better training, a new dispatch system, more staffing,
dispatchers starting CPR over the phone and community CPR training as just
a few of the reasons the survival rate in Rogers has gone up.

PulsePoint also has played a role, he said.

If the cardiac emergency is in a public place, the app will notify nearby
community members of the need for CPR. The app also directs the responder
to the exact location of the closest public access automated external
defibrillator. The responder will administer CPR or use the defibrillator
until paramedics arrive.

Jim Tull of Rogers, who is certified in CPR, has used the app for several
years. He said PulsePoint, "is saving lives in the city."

"If someone is having a heart attack, I can get there quicker than the Fire
Department can," Tull said.

There are plans to upgrade PulsePoint to allow off-duty EMTs to respond to
cardiac emergencies in nearby private homes, according to the release. The
app now doesn't work in private locations, Jenkins said.

"Without early CPR, a person has a miserable chance of survival," Jenkins
said.

The app has been used in Rogers along what's called Restaurant Row on North
46th Street and at the Pinnacle Hills Promenade, Jenkins said.

The app lets people "crowdsource a citizen response" anywhere Pulse-Point
is used, he said.

There were 2,647 followers on the Rogers PulsePoint app as of June of which
1,463 have CPR alerts enabled, according to the release.

PulsePoint also logs all calls the Fire Department has responded to and
offers a map of those same calls. The app also allows its users to turn on
a public safety radio scanner.

Tull said he was notified by the app of a fire near his home while he was
on his way home. He also was notified recently of a vehicle accident near
his home.

Jenkins said one reason he thinks the app won a state award is because of
the transparency the Fire Department has built into it. Departments using
PulsePoint can make the settings as restrictive or as open as they want.
Rogers chose to put out as much information as possible, Jenkins said.

"It helps keep an eye on the Fire Department," Jenkins said. "It helps
people feel comfortable with how their dollars are spent. It's a great
community engagement tool."

RESPONSE TIMES

Rogers averages a response time of 6 minutes, 30 seconds (from call pickup
by 911 to arrival on scene), but sudden cardiac arrest can become fatal in
8 minutes. There's little chance of resuscitation after 10 minutes.
However, only a third of victims receive bystander CPR, even though 57
percent of adults in the U.S. have CPR training. The American Heart
Association estimates effective bystander CPR, provided immediately after
sudden cardiac arrest, can double or triple a person's chance of survival.

Source: Rogers-Lowell Area Chamber of Commerce, PulsePoint

Mike Jones may be reached by email at mjones at nwadg.com . "If someone is
having a heart attack, I can get there quicker than the Fire Department
can." - Jim Tull of Rogers, who is certified in CPR This article was
published 10/01/2018