Chicago offered app to help speed CPR to victims

Associated Press

CHICAGO — An iPhone application that allows people trained in CPR to get text messages when someone nearby is undergoing cardiac arrest is being considered in Chicago.

The Chicago City Council’s public safety committee is expected to vote next week on a measure urging the city to launch the program.

The fire district in San Ramon Valley, Calif., recently became the first government agency in the nation to launch the application and has offered it to Chicago.

The app sends a message when 911 has been called and paramedics are responding to a cardiac emergency. The volunteer responder would be sent a map showing the location of both the victim and where the nearest automated external defibrillator can be found.

More than 40,000 people in San Ramon Valley have downloaded the app.