DENVER (KDVR) -- Tuesday, the Board of County Commissioners in Weld County announced the county will expand its emergency response by launching a free smartphone app, PulsePoint Respond.

PulsePoint Respond is an app that is designed to alert the public, as well as registered and professional CPR-trained responders, of individuals in nearby public spaces experiencing sudden cardiac arrest, allowing them to provide assistance until first responders arrive.

“In some of our more rural areas it could be a longer wait time for response just because of distance, but if a CPR-trained professional responder is nearby, perhaps they live nearby, they can get there much more quickly and begin providing help,” said Perry Buck, Weld County commission chair.

As of July 1, 2024, the United States Census Bureau estimated that the population of Weld County was 369,745, also has around 4,000 square miles of land area.

Through the PulsePoint Respond app, Weld County 911 dispatchers will be able to send notifications to nearby verified CPR-trained professional responders of assistance needed in addition to dispatching first responders.

Public CPR responders and automated external defibrillator responders, mainly made up of community members, will receive alerts of cardiac arrest events in public places. Registered CPR responders and professional responders will receive notifications of events happening in both public and private residences.

While the PulsePoint Respond app is now live, Weld County said that another phase is expected to roll out later this summer to allow dispatchers to help callers locate AEDs in public places.