LAWRENCE, Ind. – Emergency responders in Lawrence are now gearing up with new life-saving equipment that will help them in critical emergencies where every second matters.
The City of Lawrence purchased 11 brand new heart monitors to replace the monitors crews have been using for the past 10 years. The new Zoll X-Series Advanced Cardiac Monitors provide real-time CPR and ventilation feedback.
Lawrence EMS and firefighters say the new gear has already proven to be useful in emergency situations.
“They have enjoyed getting the feedback,” said Marc Hickson, EMS duty officer with Lawrence City Fire Department. “They like having that capability on the scene to make sure they are giving the right compressions and ventilations to the patient.”
The new technology also transmits the information to hospitals. The department says its old equipment could not do many of the things this new gear does.
“It allows the doctors at the hospital to see what the patient is experiencing with their heart rhythm, if it is a heart attack and they need to go to the Cath lab right away, they can see that while we’re still in route to the hospital, so they can activate the Cath lab,” Hickson said.
The gear can also be used in other emergency situations as well.
“It does have a traumatic brain injury platform on the monitor,” Hickson said. “So, any patient that does have a traumatic brain injury, we’re able to watch the amount of oxygen that we give them, their heart rate so that we are not over oxygenating them to cause more damage.”
Each fire apparatus and ambulance with the City of Lawrence Fire Department has one of the new heart monitors on board.
