New ‘PulsePoint’ App Aims to Save Lives in Waukesha County

WAUKESHA, Wis. (WAUK) — Waukesha County announced the launch of the PulsePoint mobile app Tuesday, aiming to empower citizens to help save lives by alerting them to nearby cardiac emergencies and overdoses.

The free app notifies CPR-trained users of cardiac arrests in their vicinity so they can provide aid. It also helps build a registry of publicly accessible automated external defibrillators (AEDs) and allows people to indicate if the life-saving drug naloxone is located with an AED.

The initiative comes as the county grapples with an opioid crisis. More than two-thirds of all drug-related deaths in Waukesha County in 2021 involved the powerful synthetic opioid fentanyl, prompting County Executive Paul Farrow to declare a community health emergency in 2022.

“We are committed to leveraging every tool to support and protect our community,” Farrow said at a news conference Tuesday at the county communications center. “The launch of PulsePoint is a significant step forward in our efforts to save lives.”

County officials reported some progress in the opioid battle, with overall overdose deaths projected to decline at least 20% from 2022 to 2023 and 35% since 2021. “It’s encouraging to see our overdose death numbers moving in the right direction, but until that number is zero, our work is far from over,” said Elizabeth Aldred, director of the county’s health and human services department.

The PulsePoint Respond app alerts subscribers trained in CPR when someone nearby is having a cardiac emergency that may require CPR. The app also directs potential rescuers to the nearest AED.

The PulsePoint AED app allows people to report AED locations so emergency responders and citizens can find the nearest device during a cardiac crisis. The county will also use those reports to reach out to AED owners about stocking naloxone.