 |  |
|
Madison Police add CPR device to emergency equipment
| | |
By CHUCK CLEMENT, Staff Reporter
| 07/29/2008 |
| | |
Partly because its officers have used the technique on two heart attack victims in the last 18 months, the Madison Police Department knows the importance of delivering proper cardiopulmonary resuscitation during an emergency.
Those emergencies were part of the reason why Chief Chuck Pulford recently added new CPR equipment to each of the department's patrol vehicles. Today, Madison officers carry a PocketCPR device with the portable defibrillators as part of their patrol cars' equipment.
The PocketCPR devices assist those individuals delivering the CPR chest compressions by telling them whether their hand-pushes on a victim's chest are deep enough and at the correct pace. Officials with the Zoll Medical Corp. announced the availability of the CPR device earlier this year, and Pulford learned about the PocketCPR from a flier the company sent to him.
"What the flier said about this equipment caught my interest, so I decided to explore a little to find out more," Pulford said.
Bio-Detek Inc., a Zoll Medical subsidiary, developed the PocketCPR, a device similar in size to a cell phone that can provide audio and visual cues to help rescue a person from sudden cardiac arrest. A first-responder places the PocketCPR onto a victim's chest and places his or her hands on top of it before starting CPR chest compressions.
Proper chest compressions push down from 1 1/2 to 2 inches at a pace of about 100 beats per minute. If a first-responder manages to provide proper compressions at about 2 inches, the PocketCPR will audibly announce "good compressions" and four display LEDs will light up. If the compressions are too shallow, the device will advise the first-responder to "push harder" and only one LED will light up if the compressions are less than 1 1/2 inches.
The PocketCPR also coaches the user through the first-aid procedures that first-responders take before starting CPR, including a check on the victim's responsiveness and calling 911 for assistance.
According to Mark Totman, Bio-Detek president, sometimes during sudden cardiac arrest, the persons conducting CPR haven't performed the procedure on a regular basis. That unfamiliarity might cause them not to apply enough pressure or keep the correct compression pace.
Along with purchasing a PocketCPR from his company, Totman recommended that adults enroll in a CPR course sponsored by the American Heart Association, Red Cross or CPR-training group.
Pulford purchased 10 PocketCPR devices for his officers and others who could become first-responders to cardiac arrest victims. In addition to adding the CPR device to the emergency equipment in four patrol cars, Pulford distributed two PocketCPRs to the Madison Community Center, one each to the street and electrical departments, one to the public library and one to the local Red Cross chapter.
Pulford said that smaller police departments in South Dakota could determine that PocketCPRs are good pieces of equipment to have on hand. Zoll Medical lists the PocketCPR's retail price as about $179 each.
Pulford and his officers attend CPR-training courses taught by Red Cross instructors every two years. Lou Vogt, executive director of the Lake-Kingsbury Red Cross chapter, described the PocketCPRs as useful devices for first-responders.
Vogt can demonstrate how to use the device with the mannequins that are teaching tools for Red Cross CPR training. She has demonstrated the PocketCPR devices since their arrival in Madison, including one presentation for the local Red Cross board of directors.
Totman announced that Arizona will use PocketCPRs as part of a statewide training program that will teach about 600,000 middle- and high-school students CPR techniques. He added that the Madison Police Department became the first law enforcement organization in the world to place PocketCPRs in all of its patrol vehicles.
| |
©Madison Daily Leader 2013
| |
| |
|
  | Send us your community news, events, letters to the editor and other suggestions. Now, you can submit birth, wedding and engagement announcements online too!
Copyright © 1995 - 2013 madisonet.com All Rights Reserved. |
|
