Smartphone app assists in rescue of newborn

SPOKANE, Wash. (KGO) -- A Spokane, Washington man saved a newborn's life thanks to a smartphone app that alerted him that a person nearby was in need of CPR.

Jeff Olson was working at his job as an auto mechanic when his phone began to give off what he describes as an Amber Alert-like alarm.

The volunteer EMT ran the two blocks to a nearby store where a clerk had called 911 after a 1-month-old boy named Nolan had suddenly stopped breathing.

"I asked the lady standing outside, 'Do you have a medical emergency here?' and she said, 'Yeah, it's an infant and he's blue,'" Olson said.

"This guy came out of nowhere and just scooped the baby up and really knew what he was doing, which was such a blessing to all of us," store clerk Lesley Reckord said.

Olson was able to perform CPR and save the child.

The app, called Pulse Point, used the GPS on Olson's phone to identify him as within a two-block radius and able to help.

The incident was the first time a rescue occurred using Pulse Point in Spokane since the fire department connected the app to the emergency dispatch center.