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PulsePoint Respond app intended to save lives launches today The PulsePoint app alerts people with CPR training when and where someone is having a heart attack nearby. Wednesday Feb 1, 2017 at 11:05 AM Feb 1, 2017 at 11:16 AM Ryan Pfeil Mail Tribune @RyanPfeil A smartphone app intended to alert people with CPR training who are close to someone having a heart attack goes live today in Jackson County. The PulsePoint Respond app alerts users whenever a cardiac arrest requiring an automated external defibrillator or cardiopulmonary resuscitation is reported to 911, according to a news release. It also notifies users where the closest defibrillator is located. "Citizen users of the PulsePoint app and trained EMS professionals simultaneously receive a notification of the emergency, thereby increasing a person's chance of survival," the release said. The app's integration into the Emergency Communications of Southern Oregon's 911 system stems from the number of cardiac arrest-related 911 calls in 2016. The agency received more than 100,000 emergency calls, and hundreds of those calls were for cardiac arrest and other heart-related issues. ECSO Director Margie Moulin described PulsePoint as an Amber Alert for heart-attack victims. More than $50,000 in donations from Asante Rogue Regional Medical Center, Providence Medford Medical Center and Mercy Flights helped pay for the software integration, according to Jackson County Fire District No. 3 public information officer Ashley Lara. The app is free to download and is available in the iPhone and Android online mobile app stores. Once installed, users are prompted three times to acknowledge that they are proficient in CPR. Users within about 400 yards of a person having a heart attack in a public place are alerted, which is meant to give them a chance to give care prior to the arrival of emergency responders. Users can also sign up for alerts for other types of emergency calls, such as fires, and select which public safety agencies they wish to follow. Numerous public safety agencies and organizations helped with the app's integration, including Jackson County fire departments from Ashland to Prospect to the Applegate, Mercy Flights, Jackson County Health & Human Services, Asante, two area doctors, and Providence. Clackamas, Deschutes, Lincoln, Marion, Multnomah, Polk and Washington counties already use PulsePoint technology, officials said. — Reach reporter Ryan Pfeil at 541-776-4468 or [email protected]. Follow him at www.twitter.com/ryanpfeil.