Tri-District is first in Northwest to deploy lifesaving technology
Published 1:26 pm Thursday, December 11, 2008
By Teresa Herriman, The Courier-Herald
Each year, more than 30 residents in the Bonney Lake and Lake Tapps area die from sudden cardiac arrest. However, during the next three to six months, local cardiac arrest victims will have a better chance at survival thanks to the AutoPulse Resuscitation System, a portable, automated machine that performs near-perfect cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR).
The Tri-District is the first in the Northwest to deploy the device in the field. As of press time, neither of the units has been used in a local emergency.
Revivant Corp. developed the life-saving device after the best friend of the founder, cardiothoracic surgeon Thomas Fogarty, suffered a cardiac arrest. Like 95 percent of all victims whose hearts suddenly stop, Fogarty's friend died.
Appalled at such a deplorable survival rate, he applied innovative technology and some of the best minds in the profession to the issue.
Five years and $27 million later, the company introduced AutoPulse. The new system provides a more efficient method of generating chest compressions, resulting in improved blood flow.
The patient can be quickly placed on a backboard and secured by an 8-inch belt across the chest.
When activated, the AutoPulse looks intimidating, rhythmically compressing the patient's chest by alternately tightening and releasing a belt.
The unit automatically measures the patient's weight and size, delivering and monitoring the proper force of compression. It will not activate if the patient is too small.
The pressure of the compressions is defused across the chest, producing fewer traumas than conventional CPR, where the full weight of the rescuer is pressing down on the chest.
At best, manual CPR delivers 20 to 30 percent of normal blood flow to the brain and heart. The AutoPulse produces substantially higher blood flow rates, especially to the heart, "priming the pump" to make it more likely the patient's heart can be successfully shocked into a normal rhythm.
The FDA-approved AutoPulse has been on the market for less than a year. A large multi-center clinical study is underway in several metropolitan areas.
Early anecdotal reports indicate use of the device has more than doubled the number of patients who were brought back from cardiac arrest.
"The Tri-District is fortunate to have been given the opportunity to field-test two of the AutoPulse units over the next three to six months," Assistant Chief of Emergency Medical Services Russ McCallion said.
The field test will allow firefighters and paramedics to evaluate its impact on patient survival, ease of use and ruggedness. Based on the outcome of the evaluation, the Tri-District will decide whether to purchase the $13,000 devices and place them in several medic units and aid cars.
"We are in the process of training all of our career and volunteer firefighters to be able to utilize the AutoPulse," McCallion said.
If the district decides to purchase the units, money would need to be found in the general fund.
For more information about free citizen CPR and first aid classes, contact East Pierce Fire and Rescue at 253-863-1800. Regular classes are scheduled on the third Saturday of each month. Classes can also be scheduled on request for groups.
Teresa Herriman can be reached at therriman@cmg-northwest2.go-vip.net/courierherald
