McKinney Fire Department launches app amid strides to improve cardiac arrest survivability

The McKinney Fire Department is working to improve the community’s cardiac arrest survivability, according to a presentation at a Dec. 17 McKinney City Council work session meeting.

The department has implemented the use of the GoodSam app, increased the number of automated external defibrillators, or AEDs, located throughout the city, and decreased the response time for cardiac events, a presentation at the meeting stated.

The details

The department has implemented the GoodSam app, a platform that connects medically trained community members with people needing medical assistance during a cardiac arrest.

The app, which launched in McKinney on Dec. 1, is intended to quickly get help to individuals in need, Battalion Chief Ben Jones said at the meeting.

“We know through science and through trials that 10% of your survivability drops for every minute that you go without chest compressions on the heart or any type of defibrillation,” Jones said. “Every minute that we go without helping that individual, your survivability quickly drops.”

First responders and individuals with CPR training can register with the app, which will alert users of cardiac arrest emergencies occurring within a few hundred yards using GPS technology. Verified users will serve as cardiac arrest volunteers, and are able to provide chest compression or defibrillation to victims before emergency responders arrive. The app also shares the location of the closest AED, and can be downloaded by iPhone and Android users for free.

“By introducing the GoodSAM app, we’re empowering our community’s trained professionals and citizens to save lives,” McKinney Fire Chief Paul Dow said in the release. “Immediate action in the moments before first responders arrive can significantly increase survival rates, and this app ensures we’re harnessing the skills of our community to make that difference.”

To learn more about GoodSam or register for the app, visit www.mckinneyfire.org/goodsam.

What else?

The department has also worked to increase the community’s cardiac survivability through other means, including by decreasing the hold time for the city’s emergency dispatch, Jones said.

The dispatch hold time indicates the amount of time between dispatch receiving a call and emergency response crews leaving to respond, Jones said. The department worked to streamline the dispatch process through a “quick drop” strategy, Jones said. The departments saw a roughly 45-second month-to-month decrease in hold times as a result, the presentation states.

The department is also pursuing a grant that would enable the addition of 160 more AEDs, the presentation states. The machines are placed strategically throughout the city, including in parks, police vehicles and city departments.

“Our goal is [to have] about 450 AEDs throughout the city,” Jones said. “What we're trying to do is to get defibrillators within four minutes of any cardiac arrest within the city.”

The department has also implemented a high-performance CPR model and established a cardiac arrest registry, the presentation states. The department also offers training programs and CPR classes for community members.

Diving in deeper

Jones said the department began pursuing the implementation of these efforts after seeing a need in the community.

“It's going to happen in every organized society you're going to have these, they're going to take place,” Jones said of cardiac arrest events. “Our only option is, ‘What can we do to help improve that survivability?’”

These efforts will contribute to department officials applying for a Lighthouse Community designation, which is a goal of the McKinney Fire Department, Jones said. The designation, awarded by the Resuscitation Academy, recognizes communities that implement best practices for resuscitation efforts, its website states. There are 10 Lighthouse Communities in the country, according to the organization’s website.

“We've got a little ways to go before we apply for this, but we're well on our on track to get there,” Jones said of the accreditation.

Learn more

For more information about the McKinney Fire Department, visit www.mckinneytexas.org/157/fire.