Fire department gets new hands-free CPR devices

“We are able to deliver a more effective and more efficient service at a minimal cost to residents,”

firefighters soon will be using new hands-free lifesaving devices to perform CPR.

Fire Chief James Powers said the department recently purchased two LUCAS 3 Chest Compression Systems.

The LUCAS 3 Chest Compression System is a device that rescuers can fasten around a victim’s chest and once applied, it delivers continuous, highquality, consistent compressions. It is designed to help improve outcomes of sudden cardiac arrest victims and improve operations for medical responders. Performing 102 compressions per minute with a depth of 2.1-inches, LUCAS can be deployed quickly with minimal interruption to patient care.

Powers explained that the device will free up a person’s hands for other emergencies.

“We’ve eliminated the challenges of patient position, rescuer fatigue and interruptions to allow movement of the patient,” Firefighter Tony Zorko said.”Once applied and activated, it does the work of several rescuers who otherwise would have to share this duty to avoid fatigue. Now these rescuers can focus on other lifesaving tasks instead.”

Powers explained that cardiac arrest emergencies are prevalent in the city and there was definitely a need.

“We are able to deliver a more effective and more efficient service at a minimal cost to residents,” he said.

In May, the Wickliffe Fire Department received a $36,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency to purchase the devices.

“We’re very fortunate that we got them because they’re very expensive at $18,000 apiece,” Powers said in a previous interview. “Without the grant, we wouldn’t have been able to get the equipment.”

Every paramedic will receive comprehensive and hands-on training.

They will learn when the device should be used and how to properly use it, he said.

Powers said the devices are scheduled to be in service next week.