Scott Brawner, an off-duty Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue firefighter/paramedic, was able to help save the life of Drew Basse on May 9, 2014, because of a smartphone app known as PulsePoint, which allows 9-1-1 dispatch centers to connect cardiac arrest victims to people trained in CPR that are near the victim.
“This app saved my Dad’s life. We’re so grateful to the PulsePoint Foundation for creating this life-saving app, Scott Brawner for his heroic actions and Clackamas Fire for not only their quick response, but also for adopting this technology.”
— Drew Basse’s 31-year-old son, Shane
Scott Brawner was working out at a local health club when the PulsePoint app alerted him to a 9-1-1 report of a man who was discovered unresponsive by a security guard in a parking lot just outside the gym. Brawner used the built-in map in the app that plotted the route from the health club to the 9-1-1 call dispatch location.
Brawner immediately began hands-only CPR — a version of CPR without mouth-to-mouth breathing that is now an approved method of CPR. He continued hands-only CPR until paramedics from American Medical Response and Clackamas Fire District 1 arrived to provide Advanced Life Support.
The PulsePoint app also locates and plots on a map, the nearest Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs), which can be picked up by the Good Samaritan on the way to the cardiac arrest incident. The app can also broadcast the local fire dispatch radio frequency that helps the citizen rescuer monitor (listen-only mode) and understand the response situation at the emergency — an added featured that could help achieve the correct situational awareness for the citizen rescuer and the responding firefighter/paramedics.
Powerful partnership between @TVFR and @clackamasfire combine to save the life of Drew Basse http://t.co/r1hmspCD7f pic.twitter.com/4lFU5QfFCv
— PulsePointFoundation (@pulsepoint) May 28, 2014
Drew Basse from Milwaukie, Oregon was revived, and he and his rescuer, Scott Brawner, met again at Adventist Medical Center in Portland on May 17, 2014. Basse’s son, Shane, 31, and daughter, Staci, 27, were also at their father’s side at the emotional meeting with firefighter/paramedic Scott Brawner.
Brawner’s “save” was the first in the Portland area since both Clackamas Fire District 1 and Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue began participating in PulsePoint last year. The American Heart Association estimates that effective CPR provided immediately after cardiac arrest will double or triple a victim’s chance of survival.
No fire departments in the northwest suburbs of Chicago (dispatched in the Northwest Central Dispatch System 9-1-1 center) have engaged in the PulsePoint technology.
The Cardinal has previously featured the importance of the PulsePoint app and featured specifically the Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue system …
HOW IT WORKS …
VIDEO of a simulated PulsePoint app scenario in action from Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue. The app uses sophisticated location-based services to alert citizens of the need for CPR in a public place, but does not activate for private residences.
Stay informed with news from The Cardinal’s Emergencies Behind the Scenes Facebook page — Facebook.com/CardinalEmergencies. Includes links to favorite public safety and emergency rescuers and product manufacturers and safety companies that have facebook pages. Submit your pictures or just stay up-to-date on with fire, rescue, EMS and police photo galleries. Please add your public safety photo to the wall album — go direct to the Arlington Cardinal Emergencies Behind the Scenes photos. For a list of all of The Cardinal Facebook fan pages, go to Arlingtoncardinal.com/about/facebook …