PulsePoint alert helps save Hickman woman’s life after cardiac arrest

LINCOLN, Neb. (KOLN) - A Hickman woman is recovering after going into cardiac arrest at her home last month, thanks to a quick response from her family, neighbors, and an off-duty paramedic alerted through an app.

Shawn Vernon was at home admiring her family’s new kittens when she suddenly began feeling unwell.

“And I was just standing there, and I just said, ‘Oh, my God,’ and I went down. My mom thought I had passed out, but I started turning blue,” Vernon said.

Her daughter, Harleigh, called 911 while her mother, Renita, immediately began performing CPR.

Vernon said she has no memory of what happened before, during, or immediately after the cardiac arrest. She had undergone a stress test just one week earlier and said everything appeared normal.

Her recovery also involved several complications, including a stroke, a seizure and pneumonia.

Looking back, Vernon said the timing of that day was almost unbelievable. Her mother happened to have the day off, as did the paramedic who would soon receive an alert about her emergency.

An alert brings help nearby

While Vernon’s family worked to save her, off-duty Lincoln Fire and Rescue paramedic Chris Long was in his garage just three streets away when he received a PulsePoint alert.

Long arrived within about three minutes. Allie, a nurse who lives down the block and volunteers with the Hickman Fire Department, also responded to help.

A 911 dispatcher coached Shawn’s mother and daughter through chest compressions until EMS arrived. The combined efforts of her family and community responders helped keep Shawn alive until a Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office deputy arrived with an automated external defibrillator (AED).

“For every minute that someone is in cardiac arrest, their chance of survival to hospital discharge decreases by 10 percent,” Long said.

Vernon said it took nearly a week in the hospital for her to fully grasp what had happened.

“I finally realized, ‘Oh, my God, I just died,’” she said.

She said she knows the outcome could have been very different without the quick response.

“I’m forever grateful. Like I said, these are strangers that dropped everything that they were doing to come and save my life,” Vernon said. “Having that app is definitely huge. I think if I didn’t have it, I probably wouldn’t be here.”

How PulsePoint works

PulsePoint is a free mobile app that connects people with emergencies in their communities. It can alert first responders and other registered users when someone nearby needs CPR, within a quarter-mile of their location.

The app also provides CPR instructions and a metronome to help guide chest compressions while someone waits for professional responders.

Long said the alerts give community members another opportunity to help when every minute matters.

“You never think it’s going to happen to you or one of your loved ones, but what if? I mean, you are an extra resource that can be alerted and be notified to be able to provide care either for your neighbor, a stranger, or anyone in the community,” Long said.

Long said Lincoln’s cardiac arrest survival rate is about twice the national average, thanks in part to quick action from dispatchers and community responders.

Downloading PulsePoint and turning on CPR-needed alerts can help grow that network of people ready to respond when someone needs help—potentially saving more lives, just like Shawn’s.

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