District committed to continuous improvement to increase survival rates
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GODFREY - Shortly after being first in the state to acquire the ResQCPR system by Zoll Medical, Godfrey Fire Protection District achieved the first save in Illinois using the new technology. Throughout the summer, GFPD personnel went through intensive classroom, hands-on, and scenario based training with the new system. It paid off on August 2nd.
That evening, GFPD was dispatched for a 54 year old male that was unresponsive and not breathing. All on duty personnel responded and the first engine with three firefighter/EMTs arrived within four minutes. The ResQPUMP was placed on the patient’s chest and active compression/decompression CPR was initiated. Firefighter/EMTs quickly applied defibrillation pads and a shock was delivered. ACDCPR then resumed with the ResQPUMP and the ResQPOD. Personnel on scene noted that the patient “went from ashen grey to a flushed color in the face” indicating the system was producing excellent circulation. The cardiac monitor re-analyzed and after a second shock, the patient regained a pulse and began breathing. Approximately eight minutes after dispatch, the second GFPD engine arrived along with an ambulance from Lifestar EMS. The patient was transported to a local hospital with two GFPD firefighter/EMTs riding to assist Lifestar personnel. The patient regained consciousness and personnel noted the patient was “making eye contact and could understand simple commands in the back of the ambulance.”
The patient was transported to a local hospital for critical care and transferred to a St. Louis hospital for specialty care five days later. On August 10th, just eight days after the event, the patient was discharged with no mental or physical deficits. Remarkably, the patient went back to work the very same day he was discharged from the hospital.
“We are committed to providing our citizens with the highest quality of care and best chance of survival from cardiac arrest,” said Fire Chief Erik Kambarian. “This new system has already proven to be very effective and we will continue to improve our response to cardiac arrest events.”
On September 12th and 13th Zoll Medical is sending Chief Kambarian and Assistant Chief Eric Cranmer to a resuscitation symposium in Minneapolis, Minnesota, to further improve GFPD’s performance with the ResQCPR system. They will meet the inventor of ResQCPR, Dr. Keith Lurie, and join him at a National Institute of Health funded research facility to study cardiac arrest and observe cutting-edge resuscitation technology, interventions, and protocols.
GFPD is also becoming a member of a state-wide quality assurance and quality improvement project called Illinois Heart Rescue. The project is tasked with doubling neurologically intact survival for victims of cardiac arrest over a five year period. As a cornerstone to this project, GFPD will report cardiac arrest data to the Cardiac Arrest Registry to Enhance Survival, or CARES.
About ResQCPR
The ResQCPR System is a combination of two medical devices that are used together during CPR: the ResQPUMP ACD-CPR Device and the ResQPOD ITD 16. The ResQPUMP is a hand-held pumping device with a suction cup that is placed on the chest during CPR to perform active compression-decompression CPR (ACD-CPR). It is the only CPR device that allows the rescuer to deliver up to 10 kg of lifting force. The ResQPOD ITD 16 is an impedance threshold device (ITD) that prevents the influx of unnecessary air through the open airway during CPR. When used together, these devices create an enhanced vacuum in the chest that improves blood flow to vital organs during states of low blood flow such as cardiac arrest.
For more information about Godfrey Fire Protection District: www.godfreyfire.com
For more information about ResQCPR: https://www.zoll.com/medicalproducts/impedance-threshold-device/resqcpr/
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