If your heart is going to stop, right outside a hospital is not a bad place for it.
And if 41 people within a 330-yard radius have a cellphone app alerting them to your distress, so much the better. That’s what happened in Seattle last week when Stephen DeMont collapsed at a bus stop in front of University of Washington Medical Center.
While a medical student rushed over and began chest compressions, a cardiac nurse just getting off her shift was alerted by her phone, sprinted outside and assisted until paramedics arrived.
Five days later, DeMont, 60, is walking, smiling and talking about how the PulsePoint app helped save his life.
Seattle officials say the rescue shows the potential the free download has for connecting CPR-trained citizens with patients who urgently need their help. It’s being used in 2,000 U.S. cities in 28 states.
“I put it on my phone yesterday,” said DeMont’s wife, Debi Quirk, a former registered nurse. “He would not be here as we see him today.”