CINCINNATI (WKRC) - A local hospital was one of the first in the country to use an app to help heart patients.

It gets patients immediate care as soon as they arrive at the hospital.

It isn't every day that Dr. Mohan Brar gets a big bear hug when a patient comes back to see him but the last time Bill Hiers was in Dr. Brar's care it was shortly after he was having severe chest pain.

Hiers said he, "Called 911 immediately, seemed like it took forever, but they were there really quick."

That quickness for EMS arrival starts the first step in what's called "door to balloon time" for patients having a heart attack. They also learned that as one of just a handful of cardiac teams in the country participating in a global initiative to save lives... there's an app for that. It's called Pulsara.

The app is activated when EMS arrives on a scene. The app allows for critical information to be shared with Dr. Brar's team in transit. So that in Hiers case, he was inside the procedure room for treatment in less than 20 minutes.

The time saving tap on a screen may have been life saving for Hiers. The information transferred to doctors using this app is in a confidential format. The physician receiving it can't share it so patient privacy remains protected.