Here’s why you should care about the PulsePoint app and have it downloaded

RAPID CITY, S.D. – February is heart month, which is the perfect time to remind everyone to download the PulsePoint app, it could save a life. The Rapid City Fire Department held a press conference on the importance of PulsePoint.

What is PulsePoint?

PulsePoint is an app that alerts its users of nearby emergencies like fires, accidents, and more importantly, cardiac arrests.

RCFD started using PulsePoint in November 2017. Since then, over 2,300 people have downloaded it in the Rapid City area, but only 780 of those people have their CPR alerts enabled.

The app also shows you the location of the nearest automated external defibrillator or AED.

“It’s not often that an app can save a life. This is one of those that can. It’s a free download. Nothing will cost you in that regard. We pay for it all and allows you to get an alert if there’s a cardiac arrest within 400 yards of your location in a public area,” said Jason Culberson, Fire Chief for RCFD.

Many cities around the country are connected to PulsePoint. If you live in an area that isn’t connected, it’s still worth downloading if you travel to an area that is connected.

The area covered by PulsePoint for Rapid City extends throughout most of the Black Hills.

Why you should download it?

Cardiac arrests kill almost 1,000 people every day in the U.S. and 60% of the people don’t receive CPR until professional help arrives.

In the Rapid City area, the average response time is six to eight minutes, every minute of which is crucial to someone who has just experienced cardiac arrest.

Every minute that passes without CPR, a person’s chance of survival decreases by 7 – 10%.

“It’s really been proven that getting that blood moving around is the key critical portion, and that’s the CPR,” Culberson said.

Just last month, there were six cardiac arrest events in public places that occurred in Rapid City.

To make use of PulsePoint, you don’t even have to be CPR certified, just willing to perform it in the event of an emergency.

If you don’t know how, 9-1-1 dispatchers can guide you through giving CPR when you respond to a situation.

If you want to learn how to give CPR, you can visit the American Heart Association website.