Coach Saves a Life with Phone Aid

You know all those Apple commercials that feature a series of apps and then a word after each like "entertaining," "productive," and "artistic?" Well it seems you can add "life-saving" to the list as a basketball coach in Los Angeles used the iPhone Aid app to resuscitate a young player who nearly died during a game.

Xavier Jones collapsed during a high school basketball game, at which point coaches Eric Cooper Sr. and John Osorno rushed onto the court and, with the help of Phone Aid, began administering CPR. The two men kept the boy stabilized until paramedics arrived and were able to take him to the hospital. Jones is expected to make a full recovery.

Cooper had purchased the app just the night before, in what turned out to be an extremely fortuitous coincidence. "It was really fresh and clear in my brain," Cooper said of the life-saving technique. "We are trained in CPR, but the iPhone app was a stabilizer for us." At the hospital Jones was diagnosed with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, a hardening of the heart muscles, which caused the near-fatal event.

It's situations like these which prove once again that the iPhone is so much more than a phone or a fancy gaming device, but can also be harnessed to really do some measurable good in the world. Though we can't say that Jones wouldn't have survived if his coach hadn't downloaded Phone Aid, having the app helped make sure that proper first aid was administered and a young man's life was allowed to continue, making it well worth the $1.99 asking price if you ask us. We wish Jones a speedy recovery and offer our heartfelt thanks to Entanke for creating such a wonderful app. This is a feel-good story if there ever was one.

[via LA Times]