AutoPulse improves cardiac arrest treatment

On Monday, Lawrence County EMS announced that three of its ambulances are now equipped with a new device designed to treat sudden cardiac arrests (SCA). The ZOLL AutoPulse Resuscitation System helps improve blood flow to the heart and brain during SCA due to the unique, high-quality chest compression it generates.

“Once a person is in cardiac arrest, every minute counts to get the heart beating normally again,” Lawrence County EMS Director Buddy Fry said in a press release. “For every minute that passes, the chance of survival decreases by 10 percent. After 10 minutes, survival is unlikely. Our goal is to protect the lives of Lawrence County’s citizens, and this purchase is an important step in helping to achieve that goal. I have been a professional first-responder for more than 43 years, and I have never seen a device that does what the AutoPulse does. With it, we are better prepared to deal with SCA.”

Cardiac arrest is a substantial problem that kills approximately 325,000 people each year in the U.S. and Canada, and as many as a million people annually worldwide. It is the leading cause of unexpected death in the world, and strikes without warning.

SCA is an abrupt disruption of the heart’s function, which causes a lack of blood flow to vital organs resulting in the loss of blood pressure, pulse and consciousness.

Lawrence County EMS also noted that another benefit of the AutoPulse is its ability to perform these high-quality chest compressions as rescuers transport a patient. Because it is specifically designed for providing high-quality CPR on the move, the AutoPulse helps to ensure patient and rescuer safety during movement from the scene of the cardiac arrest to the back of the ambulance, as well as during the transport to the hospital.

“Manuel CPR is the standard for providing temporary circulatory support and oxygen delivery during cardiac arrest,” Fry said. “However, due to its physical challenges, delivery of high-quality manual CPR is difficult to provide in many situations, and can quickly become tiresome for rescuers to do for prolonged periods of time. Significant decreases in quality have been seen after as little as one minute.”

The AutoPulse Resuscitation System provides high-quality automated CPR to victims of SCA by squeezing the patient’s entire chest to improve blood flow to the heart and brain. Compared with manual CPR, the AutoPulse has been shown to reduce interruptions in compressions during transport by more than 85 percent, and was applied in as little as 14 seconds. As of October 2015, the AutoPulse is in use in hospitals and emergency medical service organizations in more than 80 countries worldwide.

For more information on ZOLL and its products, visit www.zoll.com. For more information about SCA, visit www.americanheart.org or www.early-defib.org.