CPR - Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation:

For our Emergency and Disaster Preparedness Checklist and Guide application, we developed the simplest way we could for anyone, regardless of experience, to perform basic, life-saving resuscitation on someone in an emergency situation. Download it, keep it on your phone, tell your friends. You all now have the knowledge to save someone’s life. Although this app does not replace a full CPR or Basic Life Support (BLS) training class, it does guide the user through simple, basic steps to activate the Emergency System and start bystander CPR in seconds.

While doing the research for this, I was surprised to find that that this incredibly useful information is not usually readily available to people outside of the medical field. This led to the development of a free CPR version of the Disaster App. As a real-life ER doctor, I’ve taken turns doing chest compressions on a patient with no pulse, yelled “CLEAR” before squeezing the triggers on defibrillator paddles, performed an emergency tracheotomy on a “coding” patient in a desperate effort to save them, along with dozens of similar last ditch efforts to bring people back from the edge of death.

But even with all of the incredible interventions that we can do, we generally don’t even try resuscitation if someone has been down for more than 20 minutes without bystander CPR.

Why? Because after 20 minutes without a pulse, without oxygen to your brain, at best you could be an organ donor (so make sure to check the “donor” box at the DMV next time you renew your license). I’ve seen our firefighters and paramedics save lives by their rapid and efficient use of Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS) protocols, but I’ve also seen them wheeling in a gurney, working a hopeless stiff that might have had a chance if the people who found them started basic CPR in the 4-20 minutes before help arrived. If someone makes the effort to perform basic CPR on you when you drop, you might actually have a chance by the time 911 gets there.

So, for your own sake, for your friends’ and family’s sakes, download the free CPR app and take a look at our full Disaster Preparedness App!

Thanks to:
Programmer Stephen Bradley, The San Luis Obispo Department of Public Health Office of Disaster Preparedness, FEMA, the NIH, the CDC, and all of the public servants who do their best to improve our nation and ensure safety to our citizens.

Please send user feedback and bug information so that we can continue to improve our app.