MOUNT VERNON, Wash. — At Skagit County's Fire Station 3, first responders know every minute counts, especially when it comes to cardiac arrests.
"The longer you're down, your chances of survival are a lot less," says Battalion Chief Scott Horton.
Nationwide, medics respond to 326,000 cardiac arrest calls every year. Ninety percent of the people who don't make it to a hospital die.
That's where a simple app comes in. It's called PulsePoint and it alerts civilians to sudden cardiac arrests happening in a public place within a quarter mile of their location. Willing participants must be well-versed in CPR and know how to use a defibrillator.
The goal is to get help to those in need as fast as possible.
Sometimes, a neighbor responding to a neighbor is quicker than a call to 911.
"On average, civilian responders across the country using PulsePoint tend to get on scene and provide intervention approximately two minutes prior to traditional EMS services arriving," says Skagit County EMS Director Josh Pelonio. "For every minute without CPR, survival decreases 7% to 10%."
In Skagit County, the number of 911 calls is up 25% since 2019. There were 18,000 incidents last year alone. This is as the number of volunteer firefighters is dropping.
Enlisting more people to respond to situations involving basic CPR or defibrillators is expected to save lives.
"By getting early bystander CPR and AED use, we can potentially double or even triple their chance of survival," says Pelonio.
PulsePoint has connected nearly 5,100 communities across the country.
Four hundred people in Skagit County have signed up in just over a week.
For first responders like Horton, it's nice knowing he's got plenty of backup from the community.
"Having people near and knowing what's happening, stepping up and helping out, that's a big deal," he says.