Brandon Twp.- The fire department will soon have two more tools to use to save lives.
The township board unanimously approved a request by Fire Chief Dave Kwapis that allows him to purchase two LUCAS II Chest Compression Systems from Physio-Control at a cost not to exceed $28,000.
‘The key to success is that the resuscitation outcome of the patient provides for a better quality of life,? said Kwapis. ‘We’re getting more and better profusion throughout the brain and other organs of the body, keeping damage from lack of oxygen or hypoxia to a minimum. This device saves lives, but it also allows chest compressions to be continuous and we don’t have to worry about exhausting personnel.?
Manual CPR is a workout, he notes, with medics performing 30 compressions to two ventilations in a stressful situation in which they feel as if they are going to break every bone in the patient’s body. Due to the physical strain of performing CPR, quality of the maneuver diminishes after just a few minutes, and medics must switch.
The LUCAS II device is battery operated and provides consistent strength of compressions at regular interludes. Fire department personnel brought a LUCAS II to the township board’s July 13 meeting to demonstrate how the device works. The unit has been on loan to the department for the past few months. Kwapis said it has been used on about five patients. While these patients were not saved, the LUCAS II has been attributed with saving many others, including a Holly woman who recovered from full cardiac arrest when Groveland Township firefighters used the LUCAS II device on her in March.
The machine, which has a rechargeable battery, straps around a patient, with compression depth set by the patient’s age. Once connected to the patient and put into operation, medics are free to administer medications, as well as work on defibrillation.
Both Station 1 and Station 2, manned 24/7, will have a LUCAS II device.
‘We hope that this will allow us to save lives and provide better quality of life for those lives we are able to save.?