STAFFORD, Va. – Stafford County has quietly ended its contract with PulsePoint, a mobile app that alerts nearby users when someone in a public space is experiencing cardiac arrest and may need CPR. The decision marks the conclusion of an eight-year relationship with the public safety technology.
The county’s contract with PulsePoint expired in April 2025 and was not renewed. Officials say the service, which once promised to help save lives by quickly mobilizing CPR-trained residents, no longer delivers on its original purpose.
“Our contract with PulsePoint did not extend beyond April of this year,” said Katie Brady, Public Information Officer for Stafford County Fire and Rescue. “Since Stafford County began utilizing PulsePoint, its utility changed from its intended use for community notification of cardiac arrests in public places. SCFR has not seen an increase in bystander CPR as a result of information provided in the app.”
Stafford joined PulsePoint in 2017. The county paid $8,500 annually to maintain the service.
Instead of continuing with the app, the fire and rescue department plans to invest in community outreach efforts. Brady said the department will continue offering hands-only CPR training at public events and sharing incident-related information, such as road closures, through social media, news outlets, and its Stafford Alerts system.
PulsePoint Responds
PulsePoint, however, maintains that its platform is still widely effective and used successfully across North America.
“We’re open to communicating with the county on a path forward, specifically looking at ways to optimize their use of the most up-to-date version of PulsePoint so they are utilizing all the available features,” said Shannon Smith, Vice President of Communications at PulsePoint. “In similarly sized communities, we have seen a significant increase in bystander CPR and AED use across our network.”
According to Smith, PulsePoint currently serves over 5,400 communities across the U.S. and Canada and works with more than 800 fire and rescue agencies nationwide.
Local Agencies Still Participating
While Stafford County has exited the program, other Virginia jurisdictions continue to participate in PulsePoint. These include:
- Prince William County
- Fairfax County
- Spotsylvania County
- Louisa County
These jurisdictions remain listed on PulsePoint’s active user map and continue to use the app to promote public safety and community engagement.
A Growing Trend
Stafford’s decision comes amid a growing trend of jurisdictions reassessing their use of the platform.
- In Albuquerque, New Mexico, the fire department discontinued the service after 10 years, reporting only two successful bystander CPR responses. The city described the platform as “obsolete” and chose to redirect its $13,000 annual fee to local training programs.
- Montgomery County, Texas, also paused its PulsePoint subscription, citing low user engagement, lack of verified CPR interventions, and privacy concerns due to the app displaying precise incident addresses.
- Lucas County, Ohio, is weighing the end of its contract after finding that most users treated the app as a police and fire scanner rather than an emergency intervention tool.