Arizona air ambulance testing device that could aid in CPR

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz.—A device that can stand in for human hands and provide CPR compressions could change how a northern Arizona air ambulance gives life-saving care.

Guardian Air, which maintains medical helicopters at seven bases throughout the state’s high country, recently started testing an automated compression device out of its Winslow station, the Arizona Daily Sun reported.

The device has a band that wraps around a patient’s chest and can contract at a pre-programmed rate and pressure. Some studies show it can be more effective than humans at providing chest compressions in a moving vehicle such as an ambulance or helicopter, according to the company.

Medics like Dean Hoffman say the helicopter’s main cabin, which measures about 85 cubic feet (2.4 cubic meters), is often too cramped to properly give CPR if someone, on the rare occasion, goes into cardiac arrest.

“You’re trying as hard as you can, and you might not be delivering adequate compressions,” he said.

In a study involving test patients two years ago, Guardian Air found medics and nurses were not providing the necessary force or compression rate. Research into improvements led them to the new device.

Guardian Air interim program director Dustin Windle said the device can deliver the constant compressions, freeing up medics for other tasks like thinking about treatment or administering medication. He declined to identify the manufacturer since the decision to buy the device was still up in the air.

Hoffman, the medic, said the device would be even more valuable for transport from rural areas such as the Navajo Nation and the Hopi Reservation.

Associated Press ■ Flight Nurse Kyle Vesely, left, demonstrates, as flight paramedic Dean Hoffman, right, watches, how CPR has long been performed on patients within the confines of a medical helicopter. Guardian Air is testing out a new automated chest compression...