Alpharetta Fire wants you to download this app. Here's why.

ALPHARETTA, Ga. - The Alpharetta Fire Department is encouraging as many people as possible to download an app designed to send an alert when someone is experiencing a heart attack or needs CPR. 

The app is called PulsePoint and, according to Alpharetta Fire, you don’t need to be a medical expert to use it. 

PulsePoint alerts users when there is someone having a cardiac emergency in the area, so they can respond and possibly help save a life. It also shows the location of nearby automated external defibrillators (AEDs), which can potentially save the life of someone having a heart attack. 

Tim Ade is one of those people. The terrifying moment happened to him at the Windward Lake Club in Alpharetta in November of last year. 

"I had a cardiac arrest and I flatlined more than once between then and when I got to the hospital," Ade said. "I was playing paddle ball with a bunch of my friends, and I sat down and leaned against the fence, and I told my friends that I wasn't feeling well. And pretty much after that, I blacked out."

Ade’s friends frantically searched for a way to help him. Luckily, they were able to find an AED at the clubhouse nearby, which bought Ade precious seconds until EMTs arrived. 

"They were my heroes that day," he said. 

Ian Cassuto, Communications and Social Media manager for Alpharetta Fire, says even just the few minutes before responders get there can mean the difference between life and death. 

"Every minute after the person goes into a cardiac arrest, they lose about 10% of their chance of survival. So we know that we will get there as fast as we can as first responders, but we're not there immediately. So if people are around and can actually provide care until we get there, you can double or even triple people's chances of survival," Cassuto said. 

Which is why they want as many people in Alpharetta and Milton to download PulsePoint as possible. The two cities’ dispatches have partnered together to use the service. PulsePoint also doesn’t just show you where nearby AEDs are. 

"So once you get on scene if you forgot how to do CPR, or you just want to help, and you haven’t learned, it gives you step-by-step instructions," Cassuto said. 

Cassuto says that’s important because even if you don’t resuscitate the person, performing CPR on them can still help them tremendously. 

"Because what CPR does, people don't necessarily realize, is not necessarily going to bring the person back to life before we get there. But what it does, it helps circulate oxygenated blood to the body. So it keeps the body's organs, the critical organs, oxygenated and alive until we can get there and take over as responders providing advanced care," Cassuto said. 

After his brush with death, Ade says he sees just how valuable this app can be. 

"The friends of mine that saved my life, if they had had the app, they could have responded very, very quickly, even faster than they did. So if that becomes widespread and everyone has the app, I think we're going to be able to save more lives," Ade said. 

And Cassuto says if you respond to an emergency using the app, you’re covered under Georgia’s ‘good Samaritan law.’ And even if you get the alert on your phone, there’s no obligation to respond.