ALTON - Alton Fire Department Chief Bernie Sebold is hoping the start of the fund-raiser for a new Lucas 2 CPR Device will only continue to spread after an unofficial kickoff last week at Lovejoy Elementary School.
The Lucas 2 CPR Device is a chest compression system that ultimately enables the rescuers to focus on other life-saving tactics while the Lucas 2 device does its job. This allows blood to keep circulating through the body of victims going through cardiac arrest.
Get The Latest News!
Don't miss our top stories and need-to-know news everyday in your inbox.
“The Lucas 2 CPR Device replaces the hands of the rescuer for compressions and does them continually,” Sebold said. “The device frees up the rescuer so they can provide fluids, or intubate or a number of other things. This comes down like a clamshell and works like a plunger over a person’s chest. The continual compressions keep the heart pumping.”
Sebold explained that often the firefighters have to stop to put a person on a stretcher, then get them in a rescue vehicle and much more before they arrive at an emergency room for them to take over. This device would keep the rescue personnel free to do all the other tasks that are necessary to save a person’s life in cardiac distress.
The Alton Fire Department has started fund-raising to purchase one of the devices. A total of $17,500 has to be raised and $3,900 has been raised to date.
Sebold has said over and over that Alton is such a giving community and that he feels blessed to be the chief of such a city. He also said the Alton Fire Department rarely has the opportunity to go into the community for fund-raising types of tactics, but this is one he and the other firefighters feel is most important because it will save added lives.
With funding tight on both a city and state levels, the money simply isn’t available to purchase one of these devices, the fire chief said. He said the funds have to be raised privately.
Anyone wishing to donate to the fire department for the device can mail checks to Alton Fire Department, denoted for the Lucas 2 CPR device, 333 E. 20th St., Alton, IL., 62002, or call 618-463-3568.
Sebold speculates that if the city had a Lucas 2 CPR Device, he believes it would take their saves of people in cardiac distress from 10 percent to about 25 percent.
“This would really be a lifesaver,” he said.
To make a donation, checks can be made out to: Alton Firefighters Insurance Fund and mailed or dropped off at 333 E. 20th St., Alton, IL 62002.
More like this:
