A phone app that alerts nearby volunteers did not raise bystander CPR in public places, a trial of 355 cardiac arrests finds

The stories

13 on this beat today.

Every story told the same way: what happened, who is involved, why it matters, how it works, the truth and the good news.

1. 01

   A phone app that alerts nearby volunteers did not raise bystander CPR in public places, a trial of 355 cardiac arrests finds

   69% vs 72%

   of cardiac arrests got bystander CPR or a defibrillator, with and without app alerts

   a gap the researchers found too small to be sure it was real [1]

   73%

   of people got CPR from a bystander with no alert at all

   which may have left the app little room, the lead researcher said [1]

   17,547

   emergency calls checked to find 355 cardiac arrests in public

   from June 2021 to March 2026 [1]

   21%

   of people in each group survived to leave hospital

   the same with and without alerts [1]

   What happened

   • An app that alerts volunteers to a cardiac arrest did not raise bystander help in public places, a trial found. [1]
   • With alerts, bystanders gave CPR or used a defibrillator in 69% of cases. [1] Without alerts, they did in 72%. [1]
   • The trial ran in British Columbia, a Canadian province, and Columbus, a city in the US state of Ohio. [1]
   • It was presented on 7 November at an American Heart Association meeting in Chicago. [1]
   • The app, PulsePoint Respond, is linked to 911 call centres. [1] It alerts volunteers near a cardiac arrest in a public place. [1]
   • The alert also shows where nearby defibrillators are. [1] A defibrillator is a machine that shocks the heart back into a normal rhythm. [4]
   • Ambulance services pay a fee for the app, and volunteers download it free. [1]
   • The app has over 3 million users in more than 4,000 communities, a study of it reported. [8]
   • Researchers checked 17,547 emergency calls about a possible cardiac arrest in public, from June 2021 to March 2026. [1]
   • Each call was randomly picked either to send app alerts or to hold them back. [1]
   • Only 355 calls were real cardiac arrests in public, with an app user within 400 metres. [1]
   • Of those, 178 got alerts and 177 did not. [1]
   • About 21% of people in each group survived to leave hospital. [1]
   • The typical wait for an ambulance was 5.6 minutes with alerts and 5.9 minutes without. [1]
   • In 57% of alerted cases, only one app user was within 400 metres. [1]
   • In an older survey of the app's users, 23% of those alerted set off towards the emergency. [2]

   Who is involved

   • Steven Brooks an emergency medicine professor at Queen's University in Canada; a lead investigator of the trial
   • PulsePoint Foundation the nonprofit that makes the PulsePoint Respond app; ambulance services pay to use it
   • American Heart Association a US heart charity; the trial was presented at its resuscitation meeting in Chicago

   How it unfolded

   In a cardiac arrest, the heart stops pumping blood to the brain and other organs. [3]

   Without CPR, the chance of surviving with a healthy brain falls by 7% to 10% each minute. [6]

   Ambulance crews take about 8 minutes on average to reach a cardiac arrest, a US study says. [6]

   CPR keeps some blood flowing to the organs until the cause can be treated. [4]

   1. Collapse the heart stops
   2. About 8 minutes an ambulance arrives
   3. Jun 2021 the trial starts in British Columbia and Columbus [1]
   4. Mar 2026 the trial stops taking calls [1]
   5. 7 Nov 2026 results presented in Chicago [1]

   Why it matters

   The result matters to the ambulance services that pay for the app, and to people who collapse in public. [1]

   Most cardiac arrests happen in private homes, and the trial did not test those. [1]

   In New Zealand, 72% of cardiac arrests happen at home. [3] Bystanders used a defibrillator in only 2% of those. [3]

   How it works

   Researchers call this a ceiling effect: when most people already reach a level, there is little room left.

   In the trial, 73% of people got CPR from a bystander with no alert at all. [1] That may have left little room for the app, the lead researcher said. [1]

   One US county had a bystander CPR rate of 42.9% before it got the app. [6] Later, 56.8% of cardiac arrests the app sent alerts for got bystander CPR. [6]

   Seen it before

   A tutor lifts a failing pupil's marks far more than the marks of a pupil already near the top.

   The truth

   • What is really going on A phone app that alerts CPR volunteers did not raise bystander CPR in public places in British Columbia and Columbus, Ohio, and the lead researcher says 73% of people there already got CPR from a passer-by. [1]Most cardiac arrests happen at home, and no trial like this one has tested the app there yet. [1]
   • The result is an abstract, a short report not yet checked by outside scientists. [1]
   • A UK study tied a similar app, GoodSAM, to about 3 times the survival odds when volunteers accepted alerts. [7] In London they accepted alerts in only 1.3% of cases. [7]
   • Who gains Ambulance services weighing what to buy — The trial gives them a randomised test of what volunteer alerts add in city public places. [1]
   • Who pays People who collapse at home — Bystanders reach for a defibrillator far less often at home, in 2% of New Zealand's home cardiac arrests against 15% in public. [3]
   • Nobody knows yet

     Whether PulsePoint alerts help when someone collapses at home, on a rural road or in a tall building.

     The trial tested only public places with at least one app user nearby, and its authors say those cases remain open. [1]

   • Nobody knows yet

     Whether more volunteers nearby would have changed the result.

     In 57% of alerted cases only one app user was within 400 metres, so the trial says little about busier networks. [1]

   What comes next

   The team says it will now study how volunteer numbers and local conditions shaped the result. [1]

1. 02

   Birth centres keep closing in England

   What happened

   • 12 midwife-led birth centres have closed in England since 2019, the Guardian reports. [9]
   • A birth centre is a unit where midwives, not doctors, are in charge of the birth. [9]
   • 6 have shut for good since the Labour government took office in July 2024. [9] 4 more are shut 'temporarily', some for up to 6 years. [9]
   • The Guardian links the closures to too few midwives, fewer births, harder births and more caesareans. [9]

   How it unfolded

   Huddersfield's birth centre closed for Covid in November 2020 and has not reopened. [9]

   In October an NHS leader said up to 20 of England's 155 doctor-led maternity units may shut or change role. [10]

   1. Nov 2020 closes for Covid
   2. Now still shut
   3. Now closures go on
   4. Before Christmas action plan due

   Why it matters

   Women near Crowborough, in Sussex, now travel up to 90 minutes to give birth, their MP says. [9]

   The Royal College of Midwives warns some women may pay for private midwives or give birth with no professional there. [9]

   How it works

   Health planners call it centralising: moving births into fewer, bigger units. [10]

   Caesareans need more staff and operating theatres. [10] They rose from 33% of births in England in 2020 to 45% in 2025. [10]

   Seen it before

   When a town's small shops close, people drive further to one big supermarket.

   The truth

   • One trust may call a closure temporary to avoid a formal public consultation, the local MP suggested. [9]
   • Who pays Women near Crowborough, in Sussex — Since midwife-led births stopped there in October 2025, some travel up to 90 minutes to give birth, their MP says. [9]
   • Who pays Women who want a midwife-led birth in England — With fewer birth centres, some may pay for private midwives or give birth with no professional there, midwives warn. [9]
   • Nobody knows yet

     Whether England's 'temporarily' closed birth centres will reopen.

     Huddersfield's has been shut since November 2020, and its trust says it cannot give a timeframe. [9]

   Good news

   • Cheltenham's birth centre will reopen in February after being shut since 2022. [9]

   What comes next

   The UK health secretary, Yvette Cooper, is due to publish a maternity action plan before Christmas. [9]

2. 03

   Stopping statins after 70, tested

   What happened

   • In a trial of 1,880 people aged 70 and over, stopping statins made no clear difference at 2 years. [13]
   • Statins are pills that lower 'bad' cholesterol, which can build up in the arteries. [13]
   • None had heart disease, and each had at least 2 other long-term illnesses. [13]
   • 938 stopped their statins and 942 kept taking them, at 24 centres in Switzerland, France and the Netherlands. [13]
   • Over up to 4 years, 12.7% of those who stopped had a heart attack, stroke or died, against 9.2%. [13]

   Why it matters

   Recent studies had questioned whether statins still help in later life, the lead author said. [13]

   How it works

   Doctors call this primary prevention: a pill taken to stop a first heart attack or stroke. [13]

   Over 2 years, there was 1 extra heart event for every 40 people who stopped. [13]

   The truth

   • About 14% of people switched groups during the trial. [13] Extra checks for that did not change the result. [13]
   • 'One cannot make a general recommendation about stopping statins,' the lead author said. [13] It is for each patient and their doctor, she said. [13]
   • Nobody knows yet

     Whether the small rise in heart events after stopping statins at 70 keeps growing.

     The gap appeared only in follow-up of up to 4 years, 12.7% against 9.2%, and about 14% of people switched groups. [13]

1. 04

   Two cholesterol drugs at once, no better

   What happened

   • Starting 2 cholesterol drugs at once did no better than 1, in a South Korean trial of 3,048 people. [16]
   • The drugs were a statin, which cuts the cholesterol the liver makes, and ezetimibe, which cuts what the gut absorbs. [16]
   • About 1 in 3 people who started on a statin alone later had ezetimibe added, in the stricter-goal group. [16]
   • Heart events hit 8.5% of the two-drug group and 7.9% of the statin-first group over 3 years. [16] The gap was too small to count. [16]

   Why it matters

   Starting both may still suit people whose cholesterol is far above the goal, the lead author said. [16]

   How it works

   Doctors call this treating to a target: checking a number and adjusting the drugs until it reaches a goal. [16]

   Both groups had doses adjusted to reach their goal. [16] The lead author thinks that is why the starting plan mattered little. [16]

   Seen it before

   Two cooks who keep tasting and adjusting a soup end up with the same soup, whatever they started with.

   Why an extra alert adds little where most people already get help

   Researchers call it a ceiling effect: when most people already get help, a new step has little room to raise the share any further.

   The twist

   The app showed no gain, and the likely reason is that 73% of people already got CPR from a passer-by. In homes, where bystanders help far less often, the same app may have far more room.

   The picture

   Trial, no alerts73%

   US county, before the app42.9%

   Step by step

   1. 1 Most people already get the help
   2. 2 Little room is left to add more
   3. 3 A new step shows almost no gain
   4. 4 Where help is rare, the same step has room

   The same force, elsewhere today

   Where this chain is also running, in today's other stories.

   • Two cholesterol drugs at once, no better

     Doctors kept adjusting both groups' doses until people reached their cholesterol goal, so starting with two drugs had little left to add.

   • A balloon in the aorta during cardiac arrest

     The balloon was tried only on people whose hearts had not restarted after full standard care, where there was the most room to help.

   Where you've seen this

   School tutoring

   extra lessons lift a struggling pupil's marks far more than a top pupil's

   Vaccine drives

   a campaign in a town where nearly everyone is vaccinated adds few new shots

   Pill reminders

   a phone reminder helps people who often forget a dose, not people who never miss one

   The catch

   A ceiling can hide a real benefit somewhere else, and this trial did not test homes, rural roads or tall buildings, where help often arrives late.

   And the whole of it

   A person who collapses depends on a chain of strangers: the passer-by, the volunteer with the app, the call handler and the paramedic. Most of us will stand in one of those places one day, and see only our own few minutes of it.

   The truth

   • The trial was not sized to spot a small difference between the 2 starting plans. [16]

1. 05

   Yoga rehab for heart failure in India

   What happened

   • Yoga-based rehab lifted quality of life for heart failure patients in India, but did not cut deaths or hospital stays. [14]
   • In heart failure, the heart pumps too weakly. [14] These patients' hearts pushed out 40% or less of their blood each beat. [14]
   • The trial split 3,492 patients at 16 centres between yoga rehab and 3 education sessions. [14]
   • The yoga group had 20 supervised sessions over 3 months, from one yoga and naturopathy practitioner. [14]
   • Quality-of-life scores improved by about 8 points. [14] The yoga group walked 25.5 metres further in 6 minutes. [14]
   • 21.0% of the yoga group died, went to hospital or had a stroke, against 22.8% of the others. [14]

   Why it matters

   8 to 10 million people in India live with heart failure, the lead author said. [14] Usual heart rehab is out of reach for many. [14]

   The truth

   • The yoga group met staff 20 times and the others 3. [14] That may explain part of the gain, the team said. [14]
   • Who gains People with heart failure where rehab is scarce — One practitioner can run the yoga plan, which the lead author says may cost less to spread. [14]
   • Nobody knows yet

     Whether yoga rehab itself lifted quality of life, or the extra contact with staff did.

     The yoga group had 20 sessions and the other group 3, and patients knew which group they were in. [14]

   Good news

   • In a trial of 3,492 heart failure patients in India, yoga-based rehab raised quality of life and let people walk 25.5 metres further in 6 minutes.
2. 06

   A balloon in the aorta during cardiac arrest

   What happened

   • Air ambulance doctors in eastern England inflated a balloon in the main artery of 33 people in cardiac arrest. [15]
   • The aorta is the body's largest artery. [15] The balloon was used only when standard care had not restarted the heart. [15]
   • The method, called REBOA, is normally used in trauma centres to stop heavy bleeding inside the body. [15]
   • The lower blood pressure number, which is especially important for restarting the heart, rose from 26 to 42. [15]
   • For a typical patient, the balloon went in 51 minutes after the heart stopped. [15]

   How it unfolded

   1. Collapse the heart stops
   2. 51 minutes balloon goes in

   Why it matters

   Only about 1 in 10 people survive a cardiac arrest outside hospital. [15] That has barely changed in 50 years, the lead author said. [15]

   How it works

   Emergency doctors call this aortic occlusion: blocking the aorta to send blood where it is most needed. [15]

   Blocking the aorta below the heart keeps the blood that CPR moves for the heart and brain. [15]

   Seen it before

   Closing the doors of empty rooms keeps the heat in the rooms people are using.

   The balloon was tried only on people whose hearts had not restarted after full standard care, where there was the most room to help.

   The idea, in story 04: Why an extra alert adds little where most people already get help →

   The truth

   • There was no comparison group, so the study cannot show the balloon saves lives. [15]
   • 'It is not yet proof that REBOA saves lives,' said James Price, the lead author. [15]
   • Nobody knows yet

     Whether the balloon in the aorta saves lives.

     The study had no comparison group, and only 2 of 33 people left hospital with good brain function, so it cannot show what would have happened without it. [15]

   Good news

   • Of the 33, 8 got a lasting pulse back and 2 left hospital with good brain function. [15]
3. 07

   A crisis text line for the East of England

   What happened

   • The NHS has opened a free mental health crisis line by text, WhatsApp and web chat across eastern England. [19]
   • It runs 24 hours a day, every day, and has no minimum age. [19]
   • Qualified mental health staff answer, with backgrounds in nursing, social work, counselling and psychology. [19]
   • It covers Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Luton, Milton Keynes, Norfolk, Peterborough and Suffolk. [19]
   • The web chat translates in real time, so people can write in their first language. [18]

   Who is involved

   An outside provider, NXG Thrive, runs it for 3 NHS area boards. [19]

   • Crisis Text Responders qualified mental health staff
   • 3 NHS area boards pay for it
   • NXG Thrive runs it

   Why it matters

   'Sending a message can feel far less daunting than making a phone call,' said Andrew Rochford, an NHS medical director. [18]

   Responders can assess risk and pass people on to local mental health services. [18]

   The truth

   • Who gains People in eastern England who would rather text than talk — They can now reach a qualified mental health worker by text at any hour, with no minimum age. [19]
   • Nobody knows yet

     What the East of England text line costs and how many people it expects to help.

     The NHS announcement gives neither a cost nor an expected number of users. [19]

   Good news

   • Anyone in the East of England, of any age, can now text a qualified mental health worker at any hour of the day or night, for free.
4. 08

   A psychedelic helpline's 25,419 calls

   What happened

   • Fireside Project, a free US helpline for people taking psychedelic drugs, published records of 25,419 calls and texts. [11]
   • Psychedelics, such as magic mushrooms and LSD, change how people see, feel and think for a while. [11]
   • 220 trained volunteers, not therapists, took the calls between April 2021 and February 2026. [12]
   • Psilocybin, the drug in magic mushrooms, came up in 59.9% of calls naming a drug. [11] LSD came up in 14.4%, and cannabis in 12.8%. [11]
   • Distress looked highest for cannabis, at 47.2%. [11] But 70.2% of cannabis callers rang while still high. [11]

   Who is involved

   • 220 volunteers trained, not therapists

   Why it matters

   Most psychedelic use happens at home, at festivals or at ceremonies, with few records of what goes wrong. [11]

   How it works

   Epidemiologists call this stratifying: splitting calls into like groups, here calls during a trip and calls after one. [11]

   Split that way, distress was about 47% during a trip and 36% afterwards, whatever the drug. [11]

   Seen it before

   Comparing two runners' times is only fair if they ran the same distance.

   The truth

   • Fireside paid for the study and its founder led it, so it is a helpline judging its own service. [11]
   • 'Our distress rates describe our callers, not the population-level risk of any drug,' the founder, Joshua White, said. [11]
   • Who gains Researchers studying psychedelic safety — Fireside has posted its anonymised call records and its code for other scientists to use. [11]
   • Who pays Callers who report abuse by psychedelic guides — Their 43 reports often came from ceremonies, and the helpline did not check them, because it does not investigate. [11]
   • Nobody knows yet

     Whether the Fireside helpline prevents harm.

     The study measured only caller satisfaction, and only 10.9% of calls led to a completed survey. [11]

5. 09

   Ten eating patterns, and slower ageing in DNA

   What happened

   • People who ate more healthily showed slower biological ageing in their DNA, a German study of 6,470 adults found. [22]
   • Biological age is how fast the body is wearing out, which can differ from the years since birth. [22]
   • All 10 eating patterns tested pointed the same way, healthier eating going with slower ageing. [22]
   • They included the Mediterranean diet and the MIND diet, which is aimed at brain health. [22]
   • More than 70% of the body processes linked to the diets were shared across all of them. [22]

   Who is involved

   The German Centre for Neurodegenerative Diseases, a research institute, led the work in Nature Communications. [22]

   • German Centre for Neurodegenerative Diseases a brain research institute

   Why it matters

   Slower ageing could lower the risk of illnesses like dementia and heart disease, one of the researchers said. [22]

   How it works

   Scientists read biological age from chemical tags on DNA, using tools called epigenetic clocks. [22]

   The team read about 850,000 tagged sites, roughly twice as many as most earlier studies. [22]

   Seen it before

   A car's wear shows in its tyres and brakes, not only in the year on its papers.

   The truth

   • The data are one snapshot in time, so they show a link, not a cause. [22]
   • 'The effects are not massive, but they are measurable,' said Monique Breteler, an epidemiologist on the team. [22]
6. 10

   A play centre built for disabled children

   What happened

   • A charity will open Gympanzees, the UK's first play centre built for disabled children, near Bristol in spring. [23]
   • It bought a 60-year-old former service station by the Severn Bridge with a 2.2 million pound loan. [23] It has raised over 10 million pounds. [23]
   • It will have 10 spaces, including a gym, trampolines, sensory rooms and soft play reached by hoist. [23]

   Who is involved

   • Stephanie Wheen children's physiotherapist, founder

   How it unfolded

   Stephanie Wheen, a children's physiotherapist in Bristol, started the project in 2016. [23]

   Its pop-up sessions in schools drew 1,000 visitors in 4 weeks, some families travelling up to 8 hours. [23]

   1. Spring doors open
   2. Each year up to 200,000 visitors

   Why it matters

   The charity Scope found 1 in 2 UK playgrounds are not accessible to disabled children. [23]

   Disabled children are twice as likely to be obese as other children, Scope's research found. [23]

   The truth

   • It still needs to raise 400,000 pounds. [23]
   • Who gains Families of disabled children around Bristol — Gympanzees will run separate sessions for children with complex medical needs, sensory needs or trouble mixing with others. [23]
   • Who pays Disabled children across the UK — Half of UK playgrounds are not accessible to them, research by the charity Scope found. [23]

   Good news

   • Gympanzees, the UK's first play centre built for disabled children, opens near Bristol in spring after its charity raised over 10 million pounds. Its soft play area has 2 hoists, so children who use wheelchairs can use it.

   What comes next

   The charity expects up to 200,000 visitors a year once it opens in spring. [23]

7. 11

   Sleep apnoea and poorer sperm

   What happened

   • Men with untreated sleep apnoea had poorer sperm than healthy men, a small study in Sleep Medicine found. [21]
   • In sleep apnoea, the airway narrows during sleep and breathing keeps pausing. [21]
   • The team compared 72 men with apnoea to 22 without, at a hospital in Shenzhen, China. [21]
   • Their semen held about 10% fewer sperm able to swim forward. [21]
   • In 25 men who used a CPAP machine, which pushes air to keep the airway open, forward-swimming sperm rose. [21]
   • It went from about 40% to 45% within a month. [21]

   Why it matters

   Sleep apnoea affects about 1 in 4 men over 30, the report says. [21]

   The truth

   • Of the 25 on the machine, 15 were still in the study at 3 months and 8 at 6 months. [21] Treatment was not assigned by chance. [21]
   • Nobody knows yet

     Whether a CPAP machine's gain in sperm quality lasts.

     Only 8 of the 25 men who started on it were still in the study at 6 months. [21]

8. 12

   Why women may feel the cold more

   What happened

   • Female mice chose surfaces about 4C warmer than male mice, in a study published on 28 October. [17]
   • Males chose about 32C and females about 36C on average. [17]
   • The researchers found sensors in females' skin switch on at higher temperatures. [17]
   • Blocking testosterone in males made them seek warmth. [17] Giving it to females took away their preference. [17]

   Why it matters

   The same sensors exist in people, so the result may matter for how buildings are designed, a co-author said. [17]

   How it works

   Michael Caterina, a neuroscientist at Johns Hopkins University, likens these sensors to little electrical generators in nerve endings. [17]

   When one switches on, charged particles flow into the nerve, and it sends a signal to the brain. [17]

   Seen it before

   A smoke alarm set to be more sensitive goes off sooner, from the same amount of smoke.

   The truth

   • The study was in mice, and no tests were done in people. [17]
9. 13

   A teenager's award for fighting period shame

   What happened

   • Aadvik Jain, 18, from Delhi, won a Diana Award for Team Period, a group he started against period shame. [20]
   • The Diana Award honours people aged 16 to 25 for social action, in memory of Princess Diana. [20]
   • This year 198 young people from 44 countries won it, announced on 4 November. [20] 49 of them were from India. [20]
   • The group runs workshops and street performances, and put a pad dispenser in his school. [20] It has gathered about 4,000 survey answers. [20]

   Who is involved

   • Aadvik Jain, 18 founder of Team Period

   How it unfolded

   He began after a school friend's severe period pain was not taken seriously. [20] She was later diagnosed with PCOS, a hormone condition of the ovaries. [20]

   Why it matters

   'It's a very hush-hush topic,' Jain told NPR, about periods in India. [20]

   Good news

   • A boy from one workshop later helped his 9-year-old sister through her first period, Jain said. [20]