Life-saving CPR performed after mobile app notifies nearby off-duty firefighter
CLACKAMAS, Ore., May 28, 2014 – On Friday, May 9, 2014 off-duty firefighter Scott Brawner was working out at a local health club when he received an alert through PulsePoint, a 9-1-1 connected mobile app designed to alert CPR-trained citizens of Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA) emergencies in their proximity. This alert saved a man’s life.
Using the map presented by the PulsePoint app, Scott immediately made his way to the reported patient location. In less than a minute, Scott found the man unconscious in the parking lot outside of the health facility where a security guard had first found him unresponsive and called 9-1-1. Scott immediately assessed and began hands-only CPR. He continued providing chest compressions until paramedics from American Medical Response (AMR) and Clackamas Fire District #1 arrived to provide advanced care.
“As a fire fighter I know that every minute that passes without a SCA victim receiving resuscitation, the chances of that person surviving decrease 10 percent.” said Scott Brawner, Firefighter/Paramedic with Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue (TVF&R). “By adopting PulsePoint, agencies are removing much of the fate and luck in survival by involving CPR-trained citizen rescuers in cardiac arrest response.”
On Saturday, May 17, 2014, at Adventist Medical Center in Portland, Oregon, Scott had the opportunity to meet the man he had saved just a week prior. His name is Drew Basse, a 57-year-old truck driver from Milwaukie, Oregon. Scott also met Drew’s son Shane, 31, and daughter Staci, 27. It was an emotional meeting filled with gratitude and appreciation as Drew is expected to fully recover with no loss of cognitive function because CPR was administered so quickly. The family was especially interested in learning more about the “miracle app” they had heard played such a key role in Drew’s survival.
“This app saved my Dad’s life,” said Shane Basse, “We’re so grateful to the PulsePoint Foundation for creating this life-saving app, Scott Brawner for his heroic actions and Clackamas Fire for not only their quick response, but for adopting this technology.”
“The PulsePoint app did its job by alerting a Good Samaritan simultaneously with the dispatch of our crews, ” said Bill Conway, EMS Officer for Clackamas Fire District #1. “This incredibly positive outcome is why Clackamas Fire, like so many organizations throughout the U.S., invested in this type of technology.”
The app on Scott’s phone is from the non-profit PulsePoint Foundation. The app is designed to reduce collapse-to-CPR and collapse-to-defibrillation times by increasing citizen awareness of cardiac events beyond a traditional “witnessed” area and by displaying the precise location of nearby public access defibrillators (AEDs).
About the PulsePoint Foundation
PulsePoint is a 501(c)(3) non-profit foundation based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Its mission is to make it much easier for citizens who are trained in CPR to use their life-saving skills to do just that…save lives! Through the use of modern, location-aware mobile devices PulsePoint is building applications that work with local public safety agencies to improve communications with citizens and empower them to help reduce the millions of annual deaths from sudden cardiac arrest.
Deployment of the PulsePoint app can significantly strengthen the “chain of survival” by improving bystander response to SCA victims in public settings and increasing the chance that lifesaving steps will be taken prior to the arrival of emergency medical services (EMS) professionals. Just two years after launching outside the San Ramon Valley (CA) the PulsePoint app has been adopted in 600 cities and communities in 18 states.
PulsePoint is built and maintained by volunteer engineers at Workday, a Silicon Valley-based company that creates enterprise cloud applications, and distributed by Physio-Control. The original idea came from Richard Price, the former chief of the San Ramon Valley Fire Department who wanted to bridge the gap between the critical minutes following SCA and the 13 million Americans who are CPR trained, but often don’t know their skills are required.
The PulsePoint app is available for iPhone and Android and can be downloaded from the iTunes Store
and Google Play. Learn more at www.pulsepoint.org.
About Clackamas Fire District #1
Clackamas Fire District #1 provides fire, rescue, and emergency medical services to the cities of Milwaukie, Oregon City, Happy Valley, Johnson City and a portion of Damascus as well as the unincorporated areas of Oak Lodge, Clackamas, Westwood, Carver, Redland, Beavercreek, Carus, Clarkes, and South End/Central Point.
The District has 17 fire stations strategically located throughout Clackamas County with a workforce of more than 200 employees and 100 volunteers. It is the second largest fire protection district in Oregon serving over 179,000 citizens in an area covering nearly 200 square miles.
Clackamas Fire District #1 is a CFAI Accredited agency meeting the highest standards in emergency service delivery.
About TVF&R
Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue provides fire protection and emergency medical services to approximately 454,000 citizens in one of the fastest growing regions in Oregon. The District’s 210 square mile service area includes the cities of Beaverton, Durham, King City, Rivergrove, Sherwood, Tigard, Tualatin, West Linn, and Wilsonville, and unincorporated portions of Clackamas, Multnomah, and Washington County. TVF&R is a CFAI Accredited agency.
About Cardiac Arrest
Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest is a leading cause of death in the United States, accounting for an estimated 424,000 deaths each year, 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. However, less than half of cardiac arrest victims receive bystander CPR and even fewer receive a potentially lifesaving therapeutic shock from a public access AED. Improving bystander CPR rates and access to AEDs is critical to survival.
Different than a heart attack, sudden cardiac arrest is caused when the heart’s electrical system malfunctions and the heart stops working properly. For every minute that passes without a SCA victim receiving resuscitation, the chances of that person surviving decrease 10 percent. After 10 minutes the chances of survival are minimal.
Contacts
Interview Requests & National Media
Shannon Smith
ssmith@smithmediarelations.com
C: (773) 339-7513
O: (616) 724-4256
General Inquires & Portland-Area Media
Brandon Paxton
brandon.paxton@clackamasfire.com
C: (503) 519-4123
P: (503) 294-3555
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