Bystander training on spotting and using defibrillators can greatly improve cardiac arrest survival, but many people don’t know what to do.

When a woman collapsed on an escalator at the Buffalo airport last June, Phil Clough knew what to do. He and another bystander put her flat on her back and checked her pulse and her breathing. Then she stopped breathing altogether. Realizing that she might be having a cardiac arrest, Clough immediately started doing chest compressions, pressing hard and quickly on the center of her chest, while others nearby called 911 and ran to get an automated external defibrillator. Within seconds of receiving a shock from the AED, the woman opened her eyes. By the time the airport rescue team arrived a few minutes later, she was conscious and able to talk with rescuers.

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Forsyth County Emergency Services receives five ZOLL® AED 3 Defibrillators to place in the community.

Forsyth County Emergency Services, in North Carolina, has won the 2024 PulsePoint AED Contest, winning five ZOLL® AED 3 Defibrillators for their community. The contest took place during the month of October, Sudden Cardiac Arrest Awareness Month, and was eligible to any community using PulsePoint AED to locate and register AEDs. Forsyth County Emergency Services collectively registered a record number of AEDs, 555, at locations throughout the county including schools, government buildings, local businesses and gyms. The newly registered AEDs are part of the free and universally accessible National Emergency AED Registry, hosted by PulsePoint.

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ZOLL’s donation of the National AED Registry™ to the Emergency AED Registry, hosted by PulsePoint, optimizes dispatch and citizen responder accessibility to AED locations

The PulsePoint Foundation, a public non-profit 501(c)(3) that builds public safety applications and maintains the Emergency AED Registry, announced today that ZOLL®, an Asahi Kasei company that manufactures medical devices and related software solutions, has donated the National AED Registry™ to PulsePoint. ZOLL’s donation will increase emergency call taker access to known AED (automated external defibrillator) locations for use during cardiac arrest call processing. The donation represents a shared belief that every AED in the U.S. and Canada, regardless of brand, should have the option of being accessible to all communities.

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While AED registries have traditionally been used to meet regulatory requirements, the growing use of dispatch-accessible, time-of-need emergency AED registries offers meaningful new opportunities to increase the use of these lifesaving devices. In addition to telecommunicator initiatives, communities are going further by using their registries to alert AED owners and program volunteers to nearby cardiac arrest events.

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HEARTsafe Eugene Springfield receives a $5,000 grant for the purchase of public defibrillators.

The PulsePoint Foundation, a public non-profit 501(c)(3), announced that HEARTsafe Eugene Springfield (OR) has won the 2023 PulsePoint AED Contest, winning a $5,000 grant to purchase AEDs (automated external defibrillators) for their community. HEARTsafe Eugene Springfield is a partner organization of Eugene Springfield Fire and PeaceHealth. The contest took place during the month of October, Sudden Cardiac Arrest Awareness Month, and was eligible to any community using PulsePoint AED to locate and register AEDs. HEARTsafe Eugene Springfield collectively registered a record number of AEDs, 406, at locations throughout the city including schools, government buildings, local businesses and gyms. The newly registered AEDs are part of the 650 AEDs locally that are in the process of being vetted by public safety personnel so their location is available to emergency responders during cardiac emergencies.

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Public safety telecommunicators utilizing APCO’s IntelliComm software can now quickly direct 9-1-1 callers during time-critical cardiac emergencies to the closest automated external defibrillator (AED). The life-saving advancement comes from the implementation of an AED geolocation plan between APCO’s IntelliComm and the PulsePoint Foundation.

The tool enables 9-1-1 telecommunicators to inform callers of the location of AEDs while using existing medical dispatch protocols within IntelliComm’s software, with no changes to workflow—saving critical time during life-threatening emergencies.

Each year in the U.S., there are approximately 360,000 Emergency Medical Services (EMS)-assessed cardiac arrests outside of a hospital and on average, less than 10 percent of victims survive. The keys to survival are early recognition, early CPR and early defibrillation. Action taken by bystanders prior to the arrival of EMS results in victims being two to three times more likely to survive.

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By James Careless, All Things FirstNet

Every day in the United States, about 1,000 people suffer cardiac arrests. Every minute that passes between a cardiac arrest and the administration of aid decreases their chance of survival by 10%. Clearly, the sooner that medical assistance arrives, the better.

Speeding the arrival of help is the goal of the PulsePoint Foundation (PulsePoint), a 501(c)(3) public nonprofit organization. Mindful that even the fastest-dispatched EMS and fire agencies can take precious minutes to arrive, PulsePoint recruits CPR-trained volunteers to step in when they are closer to the scene. This is possible due to these volunteers running the free PulsePoint Respond app on their smartphones (available in Android and Apple iOS), and living in jurisdictions whose local 911 centers have registered to forward cardiac-related calls to PulsePoint as the calls come in.

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By Dr. Michael Sayre, MD, Medical Director for the Seattle Fire Department and PulsePoint and Professor of Emergency Medicine at University of Washington

The unsettling collapse of Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin during a Monday Night Football game brought sudden cardiac arrest to the attention of millions of Americans. Surviving sudden cardiac arrest relies on immediate medical attention, including cardiopulmonary resuscitation and AED (automated external defibrillator) use. Mr. Hamlin was fortunate in that he was quickly surrounded by medical professionals armed with an emergency action plan, and experienced paramedics joined them within minutes. Now, even with the best, most rapid care, Americans are learning that recovery from cardiac arrest takes time.

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City of Palm Beach Gardens received a $5,000 grant for the purchase of public defibrillators.

The PulsePoint Foundation, a public non-profit 501(c)(3), announced today that Palm Beach Gardens Fire & Rescue (FL) has won the 2022 PulsePoint AED Contest, winning a $5,000 grant to purchase AEDs (automated external defibrillators) for their community.

The contest took place during the month of October, Sudden Cardiac Arrest Awareness Month, and was eligible to any community using PulsePoint AED to locate and register AEDs. Palm Beach Gardens Fire Rescue collectively registered 179 AEDs at locations throughout the city including schools, government buildings, local businesses and gyms. Once the newly registered AEDs are vetted by public safety personnel their location will be made available to emergency responders during cardiac emergencies.

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County will receive $5,000 grant for the purchase of public defibrillators.

The PulsePoint Foundation, a public non-profit 501(c)(3), announced today that Fairfield County, Ohio has won the inaugural PulsePoint AED Contest, winning a $5,000 grant to purchase AEDs for public safety staff and/or the community. The contest took place during the month of October, Sudden Cardiac Arrest Awareness Month, and was eligible to any community using PulsePoint AED to locate and register AEDs. Fairfield County, with the help of Fairfield Medical Center’s Community Heart Watch Committee, collectively registered 238 AEDs at locations throughout the county including schools, government buildings, places of worship and sports centers. Once the newly registered AEDs are vetted by public safety personnel their location will be made available to emergency responders during cardiac emergencies.

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