PulsePoint is a 911-connected mobile app that allows users to view and receive live alerts of calls being responded to by fire departments and emergency medical services. The app aims to have bystanders trained in CPR help cardiac arrest victims before emergency crews arrive, which can increase their chance of survival.[3][4] The app interfaces with the local government public safety answering point, and notifies users only if the victim is in a public place and only to users that are in the immediate vicinity of the emergency.[5] In February 2017, PulsePoint introduced a professional version called Verified Responder that also alerts in residential settings.[6] Based in the San Francisco Bay Area, PulsePoint is run by a public 501(c)(3) non-profit foundation of the same name.[7] As of November 2024, the foundation reported that connected agencies had requested the assistance of 1,013,000 nearby responders for 294,000 cardiac arrest events.[8]
In addition to Android and iOS, PulsePoint offers a web client at web.pulsepoint.org that allows users to view the same data that appears in PulsePoint Respond with a browser. PulsePoint uses a standardized set of incident types normalized across Public Safety Answering Points (PSAP) and Computer-aided Dispatch (CAD) system vendors.[9] The foundation also underwrites an automated external defibrillator (AED) app and registry to provide location information to PulsePoint responders and dispatchers.[10]
In September 2018, the PulsePoint Respond app was approved by the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet) and added to the App Catalog.[11] PulsePoint Respond is a FirstNet Certified app.[12]
History
Richard Price, president of the PulsePoint Foundation, said that the idea for the application came to him in 2010 while he was serving as the fire chief in the San Ramon Valley.[13] While he was out to lunch, he heard sirens and saw one of his own engines pull up in front of the restaurant he was dining in. It turned out that someone next door had collapsed and gone into cardiac arrest. Price was not dispatched to the call and did not know about it, but he was CPR certified and carried a defibrillator in his car. This incident left him wondering if technology could help produce a way for civilians who were trained to help in the event of a nearby emergency.[14] The American Heart Association estimates that 383,000 out of hospital cardiac arrests occur each year in the United States.[15]
In April 2012, PulsePoint was one of only five mobile applications worldwide to be nominated for a Webby Award.[16] It was nominated under the category of Best Use of GPS or Location Technology. A year later, in 2013, it was once again nominated in the same category.[17] In 2014, the application was once again nominated, this time in the category of City & Urban Innovation.[18]
AED Registry
Along with the intention of getting CPR started faster and more often, a key objective of the PulsePoint Respond app is to inform those near a cardiac arrest event of the location of Automated External Defibrillators (AED) in the immediate vicinity of the victim.[19] To accomplish this, the PulsePoint Foundation maintains an on‑demand (cloud-based) registry of AED locations and encourages anyone to contribute device locations.[20] This crowdsourced AED location information is subsequently reviewed by local public safety agencies with support from the foundation.[21] Approved AEDs are then shown to responders and dispatchers during cardiac emergencies via the PulsePoint AED Registry API.[22] All aspects of the registry are provided free of charge.[23]
On April 12, 2017, the PulsePoint Foundation announced a partnership with Priority Dispatch Corporation to allow dispatchers to inform callers of the location of nearby AEDs[24] when the Medical Priority Dispatch System deemed them necessary.[25] The PulsePoint AED registry is FirstNet Certified for use in emergency communications centers in the United States.[26]
In June 2019 PulsePoint extended the registry to include other collocated resources including Naloxone (e.g., Narcan®) and Epinephrine (e.g., EpiPen®), along with Bleeding Control Kits.[27]
Concerns
Some privacy experts have expressed concern that the app may invade the medical privacy of victims.[13] The Los Angeles County Fire Department, one of the many users of the app, has pointed out that The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) protects the privacy of identifiable health information.[28] On a ‘CPR Needed’ notification, which is sent out through the app, the only information that is seen is an address (which must be in a public place) and a business name, if available. The individually identifiable health information protected by HIPAA, such as name, birth date, or SSN are not reported or even known by the PulsePoint application.[28]
Additional concerns that have been raised are that the app can cause too many bystanders to congregate at the scene of an emergency and that those responding via the app may not be trained in CPR or AED.[29]
Along with being able to view a list of calls in real time, users also have the option to listen in to radio traffic to accompany the application’s incident list.[31] During a CPR-needed response, this functionality allows citizen and off-duty rescuers to hear the dispatcher update emergency responders regarding patient location, scene conditions, etc.[27] To facilitate the live feed, PulsePoint uses Broadcastify, a website that is the largest broadcaster of live public safety audio feeds, to stream radio channels within the app.[31]
On December 11, 2018, PulsePoint released v4.1 for iOS[32] that included the ability to override a device's Do Not Disturb setting and play an alert sound even when the device is muted for “CPR Needed” alerts.[33] This required a special entitlement from Apple.[34]
An additional feature of the application is an interface with Flickr that allows agencies to share photos through the app. Users can view incident, event, station, apparatus, and other photos that the agency chooses to share.[31]
As of January 2024, the dispatch centers in more than 4,950 communities were connected to PulsePoint with over 3,000,000 users.[8] Some of the most well-known agencies include:
Orange=Dispatched (?=Awaiting Acknowledge)
Green=Enroute
Red=On Scene (^=Available on Scene)
Yellow=Transport
Blue=Transport Arrived
Gray=Cleared from Incident
[113]
The codes themselves are defined by each agency, and are typically followed by a number to identify a particular instance of each asset type. A legend is sometimes provided on the agency information page, and following are some common examples:
