"If your heart is going to stop right outside a hospital is not a bad place for it. And if  people within a yard radius have a cellphone app alerting them to your distress so much the better. Thats what happened in Seattle last week when Stephen DeMont collapsed at a bus stop in front of University of Washington Medical Center. While a medical student rushed over and began chest compressions a cardiac nurse just getting off her shift was alerted by her phone sprinted outside and assisted until paramedics arrived. Five days later DeMont  is walking smiling and talking about how the PulsePoint app helped save his life. Seattle officials say the rescue shows the potential the free download has for connecting CPRtrained citizens with patients who urgently need their help. Its being used in  U.S. cities in  states. I put it on my phone yesterday said DeMonts wife Debi Quirk a former registered nurse. He would not be here as we see him today. Seattle officials hope DeMonts story will help persuade thousands more people to sign up for notifications so far about  people in Seattle have downloaded PulsePoint since the city adopted it earlier this year with financial support from an employee charitable fund at Boeing. The goal is to have  using it. Developed by a former fire chief in Northern California Richard Price the app works through a citys  system. When a call comes in operators alert people within a certain radius that CPR assistance is needed along with the location of the nearest portable defibrillator. About  people around the country have downloaded and carry the app and  people have been activated to respond he said adding that alerts have been issued in  cardiac events. He came up with the idea in  he said. He was in a restaurant when he heard sirens from his crews at the San Ramon Valley fire department. As he wondered where they were going they arrived at the restaurant. The patient was unconscious unresponsive. I was  feet away on the other side of the wall Price said. The whole time I was listening to that siren I could have been making a difference. It occurred to him that at any given time twothirds of his staff was off duty  in restaurants out in the community. If there was a way to alert them to such emergencies by phone it could save lives Price said. Its not clear how many lives have been saved thanks to the app. Patient confidentiality laws often prevent hospitals from disclosing a patients outcome. Madeline Dahl a yearold cardiac nurse at the University of Washington Medical Center said she downloaded the app about a month ago after reading a news story that mentioned it. Last Friday morning was the first time shed ever received an alert. She bolted down a couple flights of stairs and ran outside into the rain where she found yearold medical student Zach Forcade performing chest compressions. Forcade had been on his way into the hospital for a lecture when he saw DeMont who was just getting off his bicycle slump over. I hadnt responded to a cardiac arrest before Forcade said. I thought Did he just fall  Even being in the medical field I thought Oh man whos going to step up He told another passerby to call  which triggered an alert sent out to  responders nearby. It was reassuring when Dahl arrived to provide any needed backup help check for a pulse and otherwise make sure Forcade was responding correctly he said. For DeMont it was about more than just being lucky. A contract technical writer at Expedia he said he has a lovehate relationship with technology  You see all these things about people falling off cliffs texting people are so disconnected  but the response from Forcade Dahl and the use of PulsePoint reaffirmed his belief in its power to make a positive difference. Theres hope DeMont said. Hes due to have a defibrillator implanted on Thursday. Now he just has to figure out how to pay the  tab without insurance. For that his family has turned to a program with a different app GoFundMe."