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New Castle County, DE – For the first time, New Castle County’s (NCC) lifesaving PulsePoint smartphone application has prompted a citizen response to a cardiac arrest incident. At 11:24 last night (April 3), the New Castle County 911 Center received a call reporting an unconscious person at the Acme store in the F & N Shopping Center at 2098 Naamans Road. Through PulsePoint, a nearby citizen who had recently registered through the app, was alerted to the incident and responded to the grocery store. There, the citizen responder performed chest compressions on the patient while assisting an off-duty nurse who had been in the store at the time and had already begun CPR.

The 911 Center also dispatched a nearby Claymont Fire Company engine and County Paramedics to the incident. The fire engine responded with an automatic external defibrillator (AED) on board, and three shocks were delivered to the patient. New Castle County Paramedics arrived and restored a pulse before the patient was transported to the Christiana Hospital, where the patient was admitted to the intensive care unit.

“I applaud the immediate response by everyday citizens who provided live-saving care to a member of our community,” County Executive Matt Meyer said. “We continue to share this simple message to all our residents: Learn CPR. Download PulsePoint. Help save lives.”

“We are grateful for the prompt actions by both the on-scene nurse and the citizen that responded to the PulsePoint alert,” said Chief Lawrence E. Tan of the New Castle County Paramedics. “We know that sudden cardiac arrest patients that receive bystander CPR have a three times greater chance of survival in New Castle County.”

On March 20, County officials announced the launch of the PulsePoint app, which directs citizen responders to locations where CPR is needed to save lives. It also permits individuals and businesses to register locations of AEDs and alerts bystanders to the closest AED during an emergency medical response. At the time, 597 residents had already downloaded the app and registered to provide CPR in emergency medical situations. That number increased to 1,009 by March 31.

The PulsePoint app is supported by the New Castle County Recorder of Deeds Technology Fund which provided funding to pay the initial set-up and annual subscription fees for the program.

Source:NCC