PulsePoint Foundation Begins Work to Extend Reach Of Lifesaving Fire Department Mobile Phone App
SAN RAMON, CA – The San Ramon Valley Fire Protection District is proud to announce the formation of the PulsePoint Foundation. The new nonprofit organization has been established to guide, enhance and expand the reach of the Fire Department CPR notification app released earlier this year. The Fire Department app empowers everyday citizens to provide life‐saving assistance to victims of Sudden Cardiac Arrest. “The app crowd‐sources Good Samaritans to events where the potential need for bystander CPR is high,” said Fire Chief Richard Price. “The vital work of the PulsePoint Foundation has already begun,” added Price. “PulsePoint is set to begin partnering with nearly two hundred fire and EMS agencies that have expressed interest in deploying the application in their communities.”
Although the application was pioneered and tested in the San Ramon Valley, the Fire District has always been anxious to share its life saving potential. Forming an independent and external foundation to distribute and support the application will help facilitate and speed adoption by other communities.
Intergraph Corporation, a leading Computer‐aided Dispatch system vendor, has announced plans to offer the PulsePoint solution to all its accounts ‐ which together cover one in twelve people worldwide. “Intergraph is proud to partner with the PulsePoint Foundation to facilitate this life‐saving technology. The combination of PulsePoint’s CPR application and Intergraph’s global leadership in public safety solutions is a perfect match to achieve the ultimate objective of protecting lives,” said Jay Stinson, VP & General Manager, Intergraph Public Safety.
The PulsePoint Foundation will be guided by an Advisory Board made up of visionaries in the tech and medical industries, including Dr. Ben Bobrow of the Arizona Department of Health Services, Co‐Founder and Co‐CEO Dave Duffield of Workday, CIO Tim Ferguson of Northern Kentucky University, CEO Tim O’Reilly of O’Reilly Media, and President Jack Parow of the International Association of Fire Chiefs. The Board also includes a list of influential community leaders and business professionals including Bill Coy, Leadership Practice Director of La Piana Consulting, Petros Dermetzis, VP of Development at Workday, Joe Farrell, CEO of Redwood Orthopaedic Physical Therapy, Don Ledoux, Partner at Summit Financial Group, David Rice, President of the Tri‐Valley Community Foundation, and Matt Stamey, Director at the San Ramon Valley Fire Protection District. The board has recruited Richard Price, Fire Chief of the San Ramon Valley Fire Protection District, to serve as the Foundation’s president.
The application has received several international awards including the Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association (CTIA) 2011 VITA Wireless Samaritan Award, a 2011 Computerworld Honors Program Laureate Award for Innovation, an American Heart Association Life Saver Heart Partner Award, and an IADAS Webby Official Honoree award for the Best Use of GPS or Location Technology. The Public Service Announcement designed to promote awareness and adoption of the application also received two Telly Awards.
The potential of the application also caught the attention of some of the country’s leading resuscitation experts, including partners of The HeartRescue Project, a five‐state effort funded by the Medtronic Foundation designed to improve cardiac arrest survival rates.
“We know that improved survivor rates begin with improved bystander response,” says Dr. Michael Sayre, an associate professor of emergency medicine at The Ohio State University and the HeartRescue Project medical director. “By taking advantage of advances in mobile technology, we can bring nearby lifesavers right to the scene to begin CPR, saving precious seconds.” One of the first states planning to deploy the application is Arizona, a HeartRescue Project participant.
Both the San Ramon Valley Fire Protection District and Northern Kentucky University and its College of Informatics have generously donated all rights from their original work on the application to the foundation for the benefit of society.
“Collaboration with the PulsePoint Foundation perfectly aligns with Northern Kentucky University’s community outreach mission. This innovative technology has true potential to change and save lives and we are proud to be part of such an initiative,” said James Votruba, President of NKU.
NOTE TO EDITORS: For additional web and print resources including sample screen shots, supporting images and video please visit the application landing page at http://www.firedepartment.mobi
The San Ramon Valley Fire Protection District is an internationally‐accredited special district that provides all‐risk fire, rescue and emergency medical services to the communities of Alamo, Blackhawk, the Town of Danville, Diablo, the City of San Ramon, the southern area of Morgan Territory and the Tassajara Valley, in Northern California (Contra Costa County). The District’s service area encompasses approximately 155 square miles and serves a population of 170,000.
Related Link
