RESOLUTION
Committee on Public Safety
WHEREAS, the corporate authorities of the City of Chicago are committed to protecting the health, safety and welfare of their residents; and
WHEREAS, the City of Chicago seeks to incorporate emerging technologies to advance its stated commitments; and
WHEREAS, the proliferation of software applications ("apps") for mobile devices has created an exciting and unprecedented opportunity for municipalities to embrace technology when making public policy; and
WHEREAS, the fire department in San Ramon, California has developed an app that allows individuals trained in CPR to sign up to receive text messages when someone nearby is suffering from cardiac arrest; and
WHEREAS, the app allows CPR trained individuals to map the location of the victim and any nearby automated external defibrillators; and
WHEREAS, nearly 40,000 people have downloaded the app, which is currently available on the iPhone and only operational in the San Ramon Valley; and
WHEREAS, developers are currently developing an Android version and are working to make the app available to fire departments across the country; and
WHEREAS, multiple for-profit and not-for-profit corporations are reportedly assisting in the efforts to expand the app's usage; and
WHEREAS, the corporate authorities of the City of Chicago recognize the potential of the app to save the lives of the approximately 300,000 people in the U.S. that go into cardiac arrest outside of a hospital each year; and
WHEREAS, medical professionals agree that the actions taken within the first few minutes of a heart attack are critical to a victim's survival; and
WHEREAS, according to the American Heart Association, brain damage and permanent death can occur 4 to 6 minutes after someone experiences cardiac arrest; and
WHEREAS, the utilization of a CPR app in Chicago would help victims of cardiac arrest receive immediate assistance from members of the public trained in CPR prior to the arrival of emergency medical r...
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