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The New Rochelle Fire Department has installed six new Automatic CPR devices to assist patients in the city who find themselves in cardiac distress.
The devices cost $16,000 apiece, and were obtained through a federal FEMA grant. Since receiving them, all members in the department have completed training and the devices have been installed at each firehouse, to be taken out on all medical calls.
New Rochelle Fire Commissioner Lou DiMeglio noted that the department “regularly answers emergency calls involving cardiac arrest, which requires swift and immediate action.
“Administering CPR can be especially challenging in tight places and during transport,” he said. “As time is of the essence, these new devices will provide steady and consistent compressions while allowing our firefighters greater flexibility and mobility.”
“Other communities have reported as much as a 40% increase in the number of cardiac arrest patients that regain a pulse in the field with the use of this device,” Fire Capt. Barry Nechis, who oversaw the training on the devices, added.
“The device was used on Friday when New Rochelle Fire Department (crews) arrived at a scene where two patients were in cardiac arrest. The Lucas device was placed on one patient and firefighters performed manual CPR on the other. Both patients were transported and had pulses return when they arrived at the hospital. Since their rollout, they have been placed in action five times.”
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