Mobile Fire-Rescue Receives Important Life-Saving Tool

Aug 22nd, 2008

For victims of Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA), only one thing is certain – chest compressions will be required. Yet, manual compressions – even when they are done well – only provide 10 - 20% of normal blood flow to the heart and 30 - 40 % to the brain. In its effort to provide the best care possible for the community Mobile Fire-Rescue Department (MFRD) has found an alternative to assist in that effort.

The only device of its kind, the ZOLL® AutoPulse® is a revolutionary non-invasive cardiac support pump that moves more blood, more consistently than is possible with human hands. Easy to use and battery operated, its load-distributing LifeBand® squeezes the entire chest. As a result, victims receive consistent, high-quality compressions that deliver improved blood flow.

MFRD has just taken delivery of (15) fifteen of the devices and members of the department will begin training on its use (weather permitting) beginning Monday, August 25 through Wednesday, August 27, at the MFRD Training Academy located at 860 Owens Street.

AutoPulse also minimizes no-flow time. It allows rescuers to provide compressions while performing other life-saving activities, or while transporting a victim down the stairs or in the back of a moving ambulance.

The AutoPulse delivers improved blood flow without interruptions of fatigue and provides caregivers better access to the patient resulting in the possibility of improved survival for cardiac arrest victims. In fact, it has been shown to triple survival to hospital discharge. The national success rate average is approximately 15%. The department has been field testing one of the AutoPulse devices for several months and has had an approximately 26% success rate, well above the national rate.

The department plans to purchase more in the future in order to have one on every fire truck in the city.