News

Conn. EMS Leaders Tout Response Time, Survival Rate Among Cardiac Arrest Patients

Jesse Leavenworth

01/27/2016

Jan. 27--MANCHESTER -- High-tech tools, rapid response and citizens schooled in lifesaving measures have combined to boost cardiac arrest survival in Manchester, according to a presentation to the board of directors Tuesday morning by the Fire-Rescue-EMS Department.

Over the past five years, 52 percent of local cardiac arrest patients whose attacks were witnessed by others survived to be discharged from a hospital, compared with 31 percent nationwide, Battalion Chief Joshua Beaulieu said.

CPR was administered before emergency responders' arrival to 26 percent of the 80 cardiac arrest patients in town from June 2013 to June 2015, Beaulieu said. Of those cases, 38 were witnessed and 42 were not. Survival rates for patients whose attacks are not witnessed is low because the emergency call often comes too late, Beaulieu said.

The department's average emergency medical response time is 4 minutes, 24 seconds, he said. Department officials did not have state or national statistics for comparison at the board meeting, but a 2014 report from the state Department of Public Health found an average EMS response time of 8 minutes, 12 seconds.

The state report noted that coverage "is not homogeneous from town to town, nor is geography or EMS agency staffing." In Manchester, a paramedic is based in each of five fire stations, fire Chief David Billings said. When a cardiac arrest is confirmed, two companies respond, so two paramedics will be at the scene along with emergency medical technicians. Paramedics have more training than EMTs and can administer medications and insert breathing tubes in patients, among other skills.

Manchester crews also carry an array of lifesaving gear, which department leaders displayed for directors at the meeting in Lincoln Center. Equipment includes a CPR called the LUCAS that is strapped to a patient to provide continuous compressions. The department acquired its first LUCAS in 2013 and now has three of the $14,000 devices.

The machine's battery-powered precision is its great advantage, officials 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. Also, with the LUCAS, compressions can continue as EMS crews carry patients down stairways or through other tight spots.

When a person's heart stops, lifesaving action becomes more crucial with each passing second, and Manchester is fortunate to have many residents who know how to perform CPR, officials said. One goal, Beaulieu said, is to increase those ranks even more by promoting community CPR programs.

Medical crews also carry cardiac monitors that send a patient's vital signs to a hospital. The $28,000 devices also function as defibrillators, among other uses. Billings said the department has six of the machines, one at each station and a spare.

Another device demonstrated at the meeting helps medics insert a breathing tube with the aid of a tiny camera. Often with obese patients, finding the trachea can be difficult, and the video laryngoscope has proven its worth, Manchester paramedic Cezary Milewicz said.