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MADISON COUNTY, Ala. – February is American Heart Month, and the Huntsville-Madison County 911 Center is using the opportunity to promote an app for CPR-certified residents to help those in need – it’s called PulsePoint.

Madison County was actually the first in the state to start using the app back in 2017. Now, they’re looking for more users.

As soon as HMC 911 receives a call about a person suffering from sudden cardiac arrest, they send an alert through the app while simultaneously dispatching first responders to the scene. HEMSI’s Don Webster says he has seen the effect of the app multiple times on scenes and says it has saved lives. Right now, more than 2,000 people have downloaded the free app, but Webster says with a county population of over 300,000, HEMSI would like to see more users, or as he called them, community superheroes.

PulsePoint also alerts users where the nearest automatic emergency defibrillator could be, so with basic CPR skills plus an added user-friendly medical tool, Webster says those good samaritans could be the reason a patient makes it to the hospital alive.

For any of you out there who are CPR certified, you can download PulsePoint from the app store or on the Madco 911 website.