New app can help save a life during a cardiac emergency

Citizen or rescuer, you can now help save a life thanks to an app.

The app is called Pulse Point and you can download it onto your phone. The app notifies users if someone nearby is having a cardiac emergency, while local paramedics and firefighters are simultaneously dispatched. The app also shows where the closest accessible AED is. 

A firefighter in Oregon saved a life using the app. He says he was at the gym when it alerted him that someone had just had a heart attack. He went on to say that "I can't believe this thing worked. I did -- I just got done doing CPR for Pulse Point in a parking lot. Even now, thinking about, it's amazing how fast that whole thing worked."

Cardiac arrest is the leading cause of death in the United States, accounting for more than 1,000 deaths per day. The American Heart Association estimates that effective bystander CPR provided immediately after cardiac arrest can double or triple a person's chance of survival.