Charlotte County Fire and EMS receive new CPR equipment

First responders understand that emergencies can happen anywhere at any time. That’s why Charlotte County Fire and EMS are excited about their new machine.

The ‘Lucas’ Chest Compression system issued to help perform CPR on patients in cardiac arrest. “This is the only piece of equipment that Charlotte County now carries that does the compressions for us,” said Kyle Vulgamore, Senior Field Trainer for Charlotte County Fire and EMS.

The system is not only powerful but long-lasting, “battery life on the Lucas device is 45 minutes and we have two batteries. Giving us a total of 90 minutes of time doing compressions,” said Vulgamore.

Often compression can get tiring for the caregivers.

“Doing compressions for 10, 15, 20 minutes can be very tiring for our providers. This is going to eliminate that completely,” he explained.

And because the compressions are controlled, they can be done anywhere. Which means movement is now no obstacle to saving someone’s life.

“If we do have a scenario where a large boat goes by or a wave, rocks us, we fall off balance, the compressions won’t be affected,” said Lieutenant Chris Kendrick, LUCAS device trainee with Charlotte County Fire and EMS. “In a CPR scenario, throw you off balance, your compression rate will change, your depth will change. Once this device  is on and secure, that stays the same.”

Not only is the device more steady than human hands, but it will also help the department be more efficient.

“We now have extra personnel doing compressions while someone can do airways, someone can give medication to help revive that person,” Vulgamore said.

And Charlotte County Fire and EMS believes this will help the number of survivors from cardiac arrests increase dramatically.

“It’s going to give patients the best survivability in cardiac arrest,” Vulgamore added. “Knowing that this device is going to help the residents of Charlotte County, is huge.”