Why I love local radio

Local news is not easy to come by now. Growing up, I read the twice-weekly local paper and the local radio station was always on. It was delightful to hear a friend's voice promoting something at the high school or cutting out pictures of my grandmother planting flowers in the local highway median. How much I took it for granted that this local news would always keep me connected with my community!

This may feel a bit off topic, but I bring this up because I now have an app on my phone that brings me Virginia news. You cannot fathom my delight when I heard an interview with rescue workers near Charlottesville who were making use of an app to bring CPR to victims in cardiac arrest. If you recall, last year, I blogged about an AED that comes to you. While that item is still in FDA review (as far as I know), Several Virginia fire and rescue agencies have joined in to PulsePoint, a phone app where people who are CPR trained (or even just watched a video on hands-only CPR) can sign up and their phone will be pinged if they are near someone who needs CPR.

This shift toward greater public bystander engagement encourages me. Bystander CPR, which is more readily available to most people than professional CPR is, increases the likelihood of survival. As PulsePoint becomes increasingly available, I encourage everyone to sign-up. Choosing to act is always the first step!