PLEASANTON, CA (October 23, 2020)—The 2020 American Heart Association (AHA) Guidelines for Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) and Emergency Cardiovascular Care (ECC) were just released to include updated CPR guidelines that direct emergency dispatch systems to use mobile technology to activate early bystander response in sudden cardiac emergencies. The PulsePoint Respond app, the North American standard in alerting willing bystanders to CPR-needed events, is currently in more than 4000 communities and has built a network of more than 2.5 million subscribers.

In 2015, when the previous recommendations were released, approximately 350,000 adults in the United States experienced nontraumatic out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) attended by emergency medical services (EMS) personnel. Despite recent gains, less than 40 percent of adults receive layperson-initiated CPR, and fewer than 12 percent have an automated external defibrillator (AED) applied before EMS arrival.

According to the latest guidelines, “emergency dispatch systems should alert willing bystanders to nearby events that may require CPR or AED use through mobile phone technology (Class 1, LOE B-NR). Despite the recognized role of lay rescuers in improving OHCA outcomes, most communities experience low rates of bystander CPR and AED use. Mobile phone technology, such as text  messages and mobile phone apps, is available to summon trained members of the general public to nearby events to assist in CPR and to direct those responders to the nearest AED. Notification of lay rescuers via a mobile phone app results in improved bystander response times, higher bystander CPR rates, shorter time to defibrillation, and higher rates of survival to hospital discharge.”