In cardiac arrest, need someone to save your life? There’s an app for that

The survival rate for cardiac arrest is about 10 per cent in B.C.

BC Emergency Health Services (BCEHS) wants to raise it by at least 50 per cent.

And there’s an app that can help with that.

Coverage of cardiac arrest on Globalnews.ca:

0:32 New guidelines help provide better care for those at risk of cardiac arrest

• New guidelines help provide better care for those at risk of cardiac arrest
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• High-rise dwellers have lower survival rate of cardiac arrest: study

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PulsePoint is an app launched by BCEHS that goes into action when people go into cardiac arrest in public places.

When it happens, 911 dispatchers can notify app users that someone within 400 metres needs CPR. The app also maps out the closest automated external defibrilators (AEDs).

Participants in a hands-on CPR course at Vancouver’s Broadway Tech Centre were encouraged to download the app on Wednesday.

“I think it would be helpful in an emergency,” said one participant.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "I think it would be helpful in an emergency," said one participant.

Rob Macdonald knows how much seconds can count.

Two weeks ago, he went into cardiac arrest after a hockey game at the Pitt Meadows Arena.

An off-duty paramedic came to his aid and saved his life.

“He jumped straight into CPR, eh started giving instructions to everybody there to go and get the AED,” Macdonald told Global News.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "He jumped straight into CPR, eh started giving instructions to everybody there to go and get the AED," Macdonald told Global News.

B.C. is the first province to have this type of public notification service.

BCEHS hopes that as many as 100,000 people download the app.