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"This is a major milestone for our organization," Fire Chief Lewis Broschard said.
According to the district, LUCAS devices - machines that automatically deliver hands-free chest compressions - are part of a ConFire initiative to improve survivability of cardiac events, which includes administering of CPR Highly Defined, a technique that provides highly choreographed, time-driven prompts for management of cardiac arrest. LUCAS devices also free first responders to perform other critical advanced life support tasks during medical incidents, and offer the potential for fewer injuries to first responders while they administer CPR.
Alliance paramedics demonstrated the equipment in December at a district governing board meeting, and the ConFire crew at Lafayette Station 17 pointed out some of the advantages of the new medical devices, praising their ease of use. "They're great for providing a consistent compression rate with proper depth," firefighter Patrick Kelley said.
The LUCAS device can also be a boon to helping first responders manage a lifesaving call. "It saves the crew time and energy," Capt. Jonathan Lemke said. "It stops interruptions, such as when we're putting a patient onto a gurney or carrying them down stairs."
The device is lightweight, comes in a backpack and can be applied easily to a patient, whether the patient is on the ground, on a bed, or on a stretcher in an ambulance. ConFire spent $600,000 on the 30 new LUCAS devices, which along with the five already in house will be used not only on front line apparatus but also in operational sessions and training exercises. Each operational truck and engine of the Moraga-Orinda Fire District carries a LUCAS device.
LUCAS is a formal trademark for the Lund University Cardiopulmonary Assist System, developed and manufactured in Sweden and distributed by Stryker Medical in the United States.
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Lamorinda Weekly, Moraga CA