325,000. That’s the number of deaths per year in United States caused by Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA).
SCA is the leading cause of death in the United States, and the survival rate is a low 18%. However, there are a few things we’ve learned with the potential to raise that percentage.
Verdin recently had the opportunity to bring in San Luis Obispo Fire Chief Garret Olson and Deputy Chief Keith Aggson. Chief Olson shared lessons he has learned about human interaction and customer service that can be applied to every industry. He emphasized the importance of the first few minutes and last few minutes of an interaction, and the potential of those minutes to provide customer service that exceeds expectations.
Chief Olson and Deputy Chief Aggson then transitioned to a hands-on lesson about the basics of Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR). With this lesson came an introduction to a lifesaving app called PulsePoint.
When an individual goes into SCA, every minute that passes before an emergency responder arrives at the scene is critical. In fact, each minute without assistance can decrease that individual’s chance of survival by 10%. To combat this frightening reality, innovators at The Workday Foundation created PulsePoint, an app that notifies nearby CPR-certified individuals when an emergency arises.
Here’s an example. Nancy is a front desk associate at a local law-firm who took CPR training last year. At a café across the street, a guest named George suddenly goes into cardiac arrest and there is no one in the restaurant to assist. The restaurant owner calls 911 but they won’t be here for another eight minutes. Without assistance, George’s chances of survival could decrease to approximately 20% by the time the paramedics arrive. However, PulsePoint notifies Nancy across the street and it only takes her 60 seconds to run across the street and help until the responders can take over.
It’s natural to feel nervous about jumping in to help, but Chief Olson stressed the point that even simple CPR can make a lifesaving difference until trained medical professionals arrive on scene.
PulsePoint continues to save lives across the country, living up to its mission of “enabling citizen superheroes.” For more information about the app, visit pulsepoint.org. Many Verdin team members decided to step up and download it, and we hope you’ll consider joining us.
