A Swedish phone app to help people in cardiac arrest will alert people nearby who are trained in hands-on CPR. Use of the app increased immediate response by 30%.

Every time an ambulance was dispatched, SMS Lifesavers sent text alerts to any of the study's 10,000 CPR-trained volunteers within 500 yards of the reported case. Those volunteers gave CPR before professional emergency responders arrived in 62% of the cases — a 30% improvement over the rate before the system was launched.

"Traditional methods such as mass public training, which are now used throughout the world, are important but have not shown any evidence of a similar increase," reports Dr. Jacob Hollenberg, a cardiologist and associate professor at the Center for Resuscitation Science at the University of Gothenberg.

The average wait time in the U.S. for professional emergency responders to reach the scene is more than seven minutes, but if someone can start administering CPR within the first three minutes after cardiac arrest, there's a much higher survival rate.

Cardiac arrest victims in the study had a 10% chance of surviving beyond 30-days if they got the SMS Lifesavers help — more than double the rate of those who had to wait longer for the professionals. The researchers published their findings in the New England Journal of Medicine.

The app isn't available yet, but if some communication and health rules change in the U.S., it could help the roughly 359,000 Americans who suffer cardiac arrest every year.

The American Heart Association video below shows you how to administer CPR so you can be ready when the app launches in your city.

(WATCH the AHA video or READ more at CBS News) – Photo by Jhaymesisviphotography, CC

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