Officers help save lives after using app

Two people’s lives were saved in Cambridgeshire last month thanks to a new smartphone app and the quick actions of two police officers.

Two people’s lives were saved in Cambridgeshire last month thanks to a new smartphone app and the quick actions of two police officers.

PC Barbara Williams and PC Patryk Warmuz were alerted to people suffering cardiac arrests by the GoodSAM cardiac alerting app.

The app uses GPS and an ambulance service system to guide volunteers to victims, and both cases happened within days of each other. 

PC Williams was on patrol in Cambridge on 8 April when the app alerted her to an elderly man in cardiac arrest at the Grafton Centre.

She and colleagues assisted the ambulance service with CPR and, after 45 minutes of treatment, the man regained a pulse and was taken to hospital. 

It was only the second alert PC Williams, a response officer based at Parkside Police Station in Cambridge, had received from the app.

She said: “The app is a brilliant piece of technology to help save lives, with user locations, defib locations and the ability to record videos in live time.

“I’m pleased I was able to respond and assist the paramedics when the alert came through.

“When I’m near someone who needs emergency medical help, I’d rather know and be able to help them – hopefully giving them a higher chance of surviving.”

PC Warmuz was off duty in Mildenhall a few days later when he received an alert on his personal phone that a man nearby was in cardiac arrest.

He arrived at a house to find the man receiving CPR from family members so Patryk took over until the ambulance arrived, with the man successfully regaining a pulse.

Sergeant Chris Postill, from the Digital Policing Team, said the ambulance service had confirmed a total of four lives had been saved by police officers using the app since it was introduced in October.

He said: “To save a single life would be an incredible result and make the entire initiative worthwhile, but to have achieved two inside a week and a total of four so far, is absolutely amazing.

“These results are a testament to the quick actions of officers, their willingness to engage with the initiative and of course their confidence to put to good use their first aid and basic life support training.”

Nicholas Jones, technology manager at East of England Ambulance Service, said: “We have had GoodSAM operational for over three years now. When we first considered implementing the software we agreed that if we could save just one life through this application it would be worth it.”

“I am pleased to say that this software has not just saved one life, it has saved many lives.”