Automated external defibrillators, or AED’s, have become a vital tool for medical providers delivering first aid to a patient. The use of one likely helped save Bills’ Safety Damar Hamlin on Monday night.

These machines are a valuable asset to have around when being prepared for any medical emergency, and St. Vincent Hospital says that anyone can help respond to a cardiac emergency with a little help.

Pulse Point is a free app that those trained in CPR and first aid can utilize to potentially be someone’s saving grace in a time of need. Pulse Point utilizes data from the 911 center to send push notifications to users, informing them of a nearby cardiac emergency.

The app also provides information as to where the nearest registered AED is located. An emergency physician with St. Vincent and Pulse Point advocate said that time is critical in these situations.

“For every minute that someone goes without CPR, their chance of survival goes down by about 10%,” said Jestin Carlson D.O., Emergency Physician, AHN St. Vincent.

AED’s can be found in many public spaces, such as public gym’s, hospitals, government buildings, and sports complexes. Even with little to no professional training, AED’s are very simple to use and even walk you through how to use them.

“Many of them will talk to you. They’ll talk you through the process. To put on the pads, where to put the pads, when to charge, make sure that everyone’s at a safe distance and then deliver that charge to the patient. Most of them will talk you through that. They’ll even analyze the rhythm so if it’s not the right thing, if shocking isn’t the right thing, the machine won’t do it,” Dr. Carlson continued.

The Erie Bank Sports Park as well as the Glennwood YMCA have several AED’s at their facilities as a preventive measure. The vice president of the YMCA of Greater Erie says that having an AED machine at their disposal may be able to save a life, and staff members are trained and ready.

“All YMCA employees are trained actually in CPR, first aid, and AED, so in fact if there was some sort of cardiac incident, we are ready to respond immediately and have the technology at our fingertips and are trained to use it to hopefully save that person’s life,” said Tammy Roche, Vice President of YMCA of Greater Erie.

You can download Pulse Point on any mobile app store. You can find out more information about the program here.