PulsePoint to Host Contest Promoting Sudden Cardiac Arrest Awareness Month
This October, during Sudden Cardiac Arrest Awareness Month, the non-profit PulsePoint Foundation is rewarding communities for identifying and registering AEDs (Automated External Defibrillators).
Each AED registered from October 1 through 31 will gain you an entry to win one of ten $500 Amazon gift cards. Collectively, if we are the community that registers the most AEDs, we will be granted $5,000 towards the purchase of new AEDs from PulsePoint to provide to public safety staff or place in underserved parts of the community.
AEDs must be registered through the free PulsePoint AED app or online at AED.new. After verification by (XX public safety agency), those AEDs are then added to the PulsePoint AED Registry to be shared with bystanders and 911 dispatchers during a cardiac emergency. The globally accessible PulsePoint AED Registry currently includes more than 126,000 AEDs.
Visit www.pulsepoint.org/aedcontest to download helpful resources and review the complete list of contest rules.
Why Cataloging AED Locations is Crucial
More than 350,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests (OHCA) occur annually in the U.S. making it a leading cause of death. Survival rates nationally for sudden cardiac arrest are less than 10 percent. However, cardiac arrest victims who receive a shock from a publicly-available AED (automated external defibrillator) administered by a bystander prior to EMS arrival have 2-3 times better odds of survival to hospital discharge and more favorable outcomes. Without bystander AED use, 70 percent of cardiac arrest patients either die or survive with impaired brain function. Despite the life-saving potential of AEDs, they are of no value if they cannot be located and placed into service during a cardiac emergency.
About the PulsePoint Foundation
PulsePoint is a public 501(c)(3) non-profit foundation that builds applications for use by public safety agencies to increase community awareness during critical events. The PulsePoint Respond mobile app notifies trained individuals of the nearby need for CPR and the PulsePoint AED registry identifies AED (automated external defibrillator) locations for use by the public and 9-1-1 telecommunicators during emergency call taking. PulsePoint also provides specialized mobile apps for professional responders. Learn more at pulsepoint.org. As a fire organization and/or professional that is committed to sudden cardiac arrest survivability, you understand the life-saving potential of AEDs (Automated External Defibrillators) and the need to increase their visibility to the community to locate them during an emergency.
