A Washington infant is alive today thanks to the heroics of one man and his smartphone.
The whole ordeal began one afternoon while Jeff Olson was working his job as an auto mechanic. Olson had his phone nearby when he heard what he described as an Amber Alert-like alarm. Olson grabbed his phone to see what was going on and was alerted to a medical situation by an app he had previously installed called Pulse Point.
Pulse Point alerts nearby app users of emergency situations. In this case, Olson was alerted about a person in need of CPR two blocks from his location.
“I looked at it and it said CPR needed and it gave the address,” Olson told local ABC affiliate KXLY-TV.
Olson, who happens to be a volunteer EMT, sprung into action. He ran down the street until he arrived at the address.
“I asked the lady standing outside, ‘Do you have a medical emergency here?’ And she said it’s an infant and he’s blue,” Olson said.
Bystanders watched as Olson worked against time.
“This guy just came out of nowhere and just scooped the baby up and really knew what he was doing which was such a blessing to all of us,” store clerk Lesley Reckford told KXLY.
Olson was able to preform CPR and resuscitate the infant.
“I don’t think I’ve ever done CPR on an infant before or even rescue breathing and when I got done I shook for about ten minutes,” Olson said after the ordeal.
Dr. Silverman comments
Kudos to Mr. Olson and the Pulse Point app. It’s certainly an app that doctors, nurses, medics and EMTs should have on their phone.
After doing a little research, the app works by connecting to local fire departments and emergency service centers. When a connected fire department gets a call about an unresponsive child or a traffic collision, it sends out a notification to any app users whose location puts them in the immediate vicinity. Sometimes this can help a person avoid a traffic snarl. Other times, like in the case above, it can save a life.
I want to check out this app for myself. Who knows how many people injure their ankles just a block from me!