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App that alerts CPR-trained people to nearby cardiac incidents goes live in Juneau
- Mark Sabbatini
- 6 hours ago
- 3 min read
PulsePoint Respond is a 911-connected app intended to provide quick aid to people in need of help until emergency responders arrive
By Mark Sabbatini
Juneau Independent
An app alerting people with CPR training about somebody nearby experiencing a cardiac arrest emergency is active for public use in Juneau as of Tuesday, according to officials at an orientation event.
PulsePoint Respond is a 911-connected app that, when implemented by local safety agencies, alerts users when a person needing CPR is nearby. That could make a lifesaving difference since the average response for a Capital City Fire/Rescue call is six to nine minutes, said Andrew Pantiskas, the department’s division chief of emergency medical services.
"Every minute that we don't do CPR on someone who's truly in cardiac arrest is a 10% decrease in survival," he said during a presentation about the app at Elizabeth Peratrovich Hall.
Sample screens from the PulsePoint Respond app. (PulsePoint Foundation photos)
Offering a personal testimony to the potential value of the app was Peter Metcalfe, a longtime Juneau resident who suffered a cardiac incident in 2021 on the Kaxdigoowu Heen Dei (Brotherhood Bridge Trail) a mile from the trailhead. He said his sister, Kim, called 911 and the dispatcher guided her through 14 minutes of emergency care until responders arrived, and he ultimately was brought to an Anchorage hospital.
"There could have been somebody walking ahead of us by 30 seconds who would not have known the drama happening right behind him," Metcalfe said. "He could have turned on his heels or her heels, and come back and assisted if we’d had this PulsePoint app."
Metcalfe said he learned about the app because his wife has a niece who is a vice president of communications for the PulsePoint Foundation, which released the software in 2011. The foundation’s website states the app is active in 5,775 communities as of Sept. 1, 2026.
Getting funding to implement the app in Juneau took a couple of years of effort, Metcalfe said. Implementation for the current fiscal year that began July 1 is being funded with $8,400 in Marine Passenger Fees, according to the City and Borough of Juneau.
Pantiskas said the app only alerts users within a short distance of the person in need of help — perhaps a quarter-mile or so, with the exact distance being fine-tuned during initial use — and if people with the app choose to be notified.
"No one has to download this if they don't want to," he said. "No one has to go give CPR if they feel unsafe. No one has to go into someone's home or go down weird alleyways, but the people who want to and feel safe to do it can truly save someone's life. This is a free app to use. You can silence the notifications all you want. It is only going to notify you if you're close."
There is a companion app, the Near National Emergency AED Registry, which is a database of all automated external defibrillators in communities, Pantiskas said. He said a recent check showed 163 of the defibrillators in Juneau.
Local CPR classes are available from Bartlett Regional Hospital, Southeast Alaska Guide Services and as part of more extensive training by the American Red Cross for lifeguard certification.
• Contact Mark Sabbatini at editor@juneauindependent.com or (907) 957-2306.
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