App could be a lifesaver

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This article was published 17/10/2016 (3324 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Emergency-response-trained Winnipeggers could soon be able to download an app to alert them if someone nearby is having a heart attack.

The Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service is requesting a $12,600 a year investment from the city for a phone app called PulsePoint.

Individuals who download the app would be sent a notification if they are in proximity to a cardiac arrest event that occurs in a public place.

“This notification results in connecting patients in need of CPR with bystanders who are trained and ready to help save lives from sudden cardiac arrest (SCA),” says the written request by the Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service.

PulsePoint will be connected with the city’s 911 dispatch centre and those who sign up would receive a notification followed by a map display showing the dispatched location of the emergency. The map display also shows the exact location of the nearest automated external defibrillator (AED).

Last week, the Free Press reported staff from the Pembina Village Medical Clinic raced into a neighbouring Applebee’s restaurant on Pembina Highway in search of a defibrillator after a patient collapsed. The restaurant also did not have one and an ambulance had to be called.

“In many cases, nearby AEDs have not been used when they may have made a big difference in a cardiac arrest situation,” states the request.

“The application aims to address this type of failure by informing citizen rescuers where the nearest AED is located — in real time and in context of their current location.”

The request comes after the service was granted a research grant from the Canadian Institute for Health Research to participate in a research study related to crowd-sourcing for CPR and AED skills through the use of this app. The grant will chip in $16,500 annually for the next five years, with the service requesting the city chip in $12,600 annually in ongoing costs.

The request is one of two items from paramedics heading to Tuesday’s committee on innovation meeting. The committee meets monthly to explore innovative ways to deliver civic services.

The service is also requesting almost $500,000 to outfit its fleet of ambulances with an automated CPR machine, called an AutoPulse.

Paramedics are asking for $430,000 to install the machines in each of their 24 ambulances to give consistent, timely and accurate CPR during emergency situations. The machines are expected to have a five-year lifespan.

“During egress to the ambulance, meeting the standards set for CPR is an often arduous task. The patient must be carried around corners, up and down staircases, into elevators and down narrow hallways,” states the request. “Outside, paramedics and firefighters contend with snow banks, ice, mud, riverbanks and uneven terrain.”

The automated, battery-powered AutoPulse machine fits onto a patient and squeezes the patient’s entire chest to improve blood flow to the heart and brain.

The service is in the midst of a six-month trial with the machines that began in August. The request notes it will provide data on the trial once it is available.

“The AutoPulse is a device that provides consistent chest compressions in all circumstances encountered within the pre-hospital environment while maintaining compliance with the current standards of care,” states the conclusion.

“The AutoPulse will provide the consistency that the citizens need, and will contribute to improved patient survivability while reducing the potential for and actual lost-time injuries sustained by paramedics and firefighters during the provision of chest compressions.”

kristin.annable@freepress.mb.ca