News

Conn. Medics Receive CPR Aid

Jesse Leavenworth

08/09/2013

Aug. 09--MANCHESTER -- Providing effective cardiopulmonary resuscitation is hard work.

Amid often confusing and high-stress circumstances, emergency medics must consistently compress a heart attack victim's chest, 2 inches deep, 100 times a minute. Also, CPR typically cannot be done when medics are carrying a patient up or down stairs and it's a challenge in the back of a moving ambulance.

Manchester Fire-Rescue-EMS now has a mechanical alternative. Going into use on Friday, the battery-powered LUCAS 2 employs a piston that precisely depresses the chest and can be used continuously until medics reach a hospital.

The department completed training on the $14,000 device on Thursday, Battalion Chief Joshua Beaulieu said. The town's board of directors approved the purchase, Beaulieu, head of the department's emergency medical services branch, said.

Manchester emergency medical responders already have an above-average lifesaving rate with heart attack victims -- 25 percent over the past three years compared with a national average of 9 percent, officials said. The portable CPR machine is meant to boost the local success rate even higher.

The powered precision of the machine is its great advantage, Fire Chief Robert Bycholski said. A medic or other person giving CPR can get tired after 1 1/2 to 2 minutes. Fatigue brings imprecision, and compressions frequently are not as deep or evenly timed as they should be.

"Studies have shown that the LUCAS device provides better CPR than humans and increases the chances for survivial from a cardiac arrest," Bycholski said in a statement.

The 20-pound LUCAS 2 is a product of Washington state-based Physio-Control (www.physio-control.com). A previous model went into use in the U.S. in 2007.

Carried in a backpack, the machine can be used on most people weighing more than 80 pounds. The device is wrapped around the heart attack victim, with the lower edge of the suction cup-tipped piston aligned with the lower edge of the person's sternum. A small control panel activates the piston, which automatically pauses so the medic can provide periodic respiration.

The town's emergency medical responders handle about 50 cardiac arrest calls each year, Beaulieu said. The LUCAS 2 will be carried in the shift commander's vehicle and will be used throughout town, he said.

Beaulieu said some emergency medical personnel have been skeptical of the CPR machine -- until they see it in action. Then, he said, they're believers.