By Jessica Mathews / news@whmi.com


February is Heart Month and Livingston County residents are being encouraged to download a potentially lifesaving online app.

Community members are encouraged to support Livingston County in becoming a Heart Safe community by learning CPR, downloading the Pulse Point App and following Livingston County EMS. The Pulse Point App will notify someone when a person nearby is having a cardiac arrest so that they can start CPR before professional responders arrive. The App also directs people to the nearest public Automated External Defibrillator or AED so they can shock the heart back into rhythm.

Officials say seconds matter and bystander CPR response can triple a person's chance of survival from a cardiac arrest. That’s why people are being encouraged to not only learn CPR but download the Pulse Point App to help save a life. Statistics show that 45% of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest victims survived when a bystander administered CPR. Brighton Area Fire Authority Chief Mike O'Brian commented that Pulse Point is the perfect merge of technology and public CPR to help save lives.

More information is available through the provided web link and on the Brighton Area Fire Authority’s website.