Portland Fire & Rescue Launches Life Saving App

Wednesday, September 16, 2015

Nada Sewidan, GoLocalPDX Contributor

Portland Fire & Rescue has recently released new life saving phone apps that call on community members to become self-made heroes.

The phone app, once downloaded, alerts its users of nearby citizens who are in need of assistance.

The technology is funded by the City of Portland and includes two separate apps—PulsePoint Respond and PulsePoint (AED), each with its own set of objectives.

PulsePoint Respond alerts registered users when a person nearby is having a cardiac episode. Users who are trained in CPR can arrive at the scene prior to first responders and provide aid. Those few extra minutes can be extremely crucial when dealing with cardiac health issues.

PulsePoint AED is another app recently launched by PF&R that informs users of nearby automatic external defibrillators (AED). The PulsePoint Respond used in correspondence with the the PulsePoint AED can potentially help save a cardiac victim. The use of defibrillators in addition to CPR can increase the chances of survival for people suffering from cardiac problems.

The PulsePoint apps issue alerts to registered users, that when clicked, launches a map containing locations within a quarter mile of cardiac victims via GPS tracker.

Both apps are free and available for the public through Google Play and the Apple App Store.

For more information regarding the launch of the new apps click here.

Related Slideshow: Crime Trends in Portland - Good News and Bad News

The Portland Police Bureau's Strategic Services Division and the Criminology and Criminal Justice program at Portland State University (PSU) have partnered to provide an interactive tool to provide a longer term look at crime trends.

The interactive data shows the geographic distribution of crime in the city; and reveals insights into crime data.

See key findings below.

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Vandalism

GOOD NEWS: Overall, the news in Portland is positive regarding incidents of vandalism, but the decline has not been as rapid as some other crimes.

Vandalism has remained relatively consistent for the past five years.

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Domestic

GOOD NEWS: Domestic assaults saw significant decline in the late 1990s, but have been fairly consistent in the past five years.

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Guns

GOOD NEWS: The number of gun related crimes has seen the greatest declines of any of the tracked crime sectors.

Gun related crimes decreased 80%.

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Bikes

BAD NEWS: The theft bikes has seen an 83% increase. Some of this is tied to the increase in biking, but the crime has been the biggest blemish on the crime trends.

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Robbery

GOOD NEWS: Street Robbery is down more than 25 years, but it has been fairly stagnant during the past five years.

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Non-Domestic Assaults

GOOD NEWS: The number of non-domestic assaults has remained relatively stagnant over the past five years.

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GOOD NEWS: Home breakins are down significantly, but like other categories (non-domestic assault and robbery) it has remained fairly constant during the past five years.

Over the 25 years residential robberies are down over 70%.