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Jim Henderson interviews Cal Fire Batallion Chief, Ken Lord, on the new app Pulse Point/AED in May of 2016
Half Moon Bay and Coastside Heart Attack History
Half Moon Bay High School Assistant Football Coach, Rocky Perry, made it to the hospital thanks to manual CPR. He died a few days later. Would an AED have helped his odds? Manual CPR is very, very difficult technically, and even for professionals it is exhausting, requiring a tag team to make it through the 5-6 minutes, and all the time racing the clock as the blood thickens and deoxygenates and the brain is damaged. Read more…
Here is an example of a trained medical team at the Half Moon Bay Triathalon in 2015, saving a man’s life with manual CPR for 5-6 minutes until paramedics came with a AED (defibrillator). He lived. Read more…
Farallone Elementary student, Sofia Montoya, was saved by manual CPR by school staff and San Mateo County Sheriff, Dennis Loubal, who happened to be there. There are no AEDs at Cunha Intermediate or Hatch, El Granada or Farallone Elementary schools, currently. There are four at the Half Moon Bay High School. Read more…
How does PulsePoint help?
Ken Lord, Cal Fire Battalion Chief, introduces PulsePoint to the San Mateo Coast. Smart phones just got smarter with PulsePoint, a free life saving app. PulsePoint is like Amber Alert for Sudden Cardiac Arrest victims. PulsePoint recently connected San Mateo County to its community.Speed matters. Being able to start CPR immediately dramatically improves the survival rate. PulsePoint alerts you of any CPR needs within 1,000 feet of your location. PulsePoint also maintains a database of automatic external defibrillators (AEDs) in our community.
Do you know where the closest Automated External Defibrillator (AED) is?
When a cardiac emergency strikes, finding an AED can help save a life.
Download the app to your phone and enter all AEDs location you may know about. I entered the Half Moon Bay Yacht Club into the PulsePoint system, as they have an AED by their front door. Enhance our CPR/AED rescue community by participating! Please enter AEDs. You could help save a life.
How big of a problem is Sudden Cardiac Arrest?
- Sudden Cardiac Arrest kills almost 1,000 people daily in the U.S.
- Nearly 60% of Sudden Cardiac Arrest victims don’t get CPR until professional help arrives.
- For every minute that passes, Sudden Cardiac Arrest survival rates decrease by 7-10%. The chance of recovery drops dramatically after 7 minutes
What if you don’t know CPR?
- The best solution is to attend a Medic First Aid CPR/AED class with Coastal Butterfly, Michelle Dragony, here on the San Mateo Coastside. Her Medic First Aid/CPR/AED course is 4 hours for $50/person. Contact Michelle to learn more.
- Small groups can also book classes with the Coastside Fire Protection District in Half Moon Bay.
- Classes are also available through the American Heart Association and the American Red Cross.
PulsePoint CPR and Events
But what if you don’t yet have formal training? PulsePoint teaches CPR. It even has a metronome so you can maintain the ideal CPR pace. Another cool PulsePoint feature is that it lists the last 100 emergency calls in the area. You can even listen to the local dispatch.
PulsePoint is available for both Android and Apple devices. You will find links to both on the PulsePoint website.
Sign up with the San Mateo County alert system to receive the emergency alert notifications.
