Did you know……. for each minute a patient goes without CPR while in cardiac arrest, their chances of survival decrease by per 10%. After 10 minutes, the chances of survival are almost nil if CPR is not performed. Over the past few years there has been extensive research conducted which demonstrates the highest probability of survival in cardiac arrest are those patients who receive immediate CPR and access to automated external defibrillators.
Cooper Landing Emergency Services has invested a significant amount of donated funds toward purchasing equipment to treat victims of cardiac arrest. Today, the minimum amount of equipment to effectively treat one cardiac arrest patient is upwards of $70,000. Last week, CLES conducted training with our volunteers on High Performance CPR including training on several pieces of critical equipment used to treat cardiac arrest. We are very fortunate here to have generous members of the community who have donated a substantial amount of money that was put towards the purchase of lifesaving equipment.
Currently, our ambulances are equipped with state-of-the-art technology including a mechanical CPR device called a Lucas 3. This is a machine that performs high quality CPR compressions. If we are doing manual compressions, our compressors must switch every two minutes. If we are responding in a remote part of the community, there may be only three or four volunteers able to respond. This equipment alone is a huge manpower tool to help providing life-saving compressions. We also have LifePak 15 cardiac monitor/ defibrillators. These are highly technical pieces of equipment that can defibrillate patients, pace patients who have slow heartbeats, and can perform numerous other monitoring activities. In addition, we have IV pumps to help infuse critical life-saving drugs, ultrasound machines to monitor heart activity, video laryngoscope ‘s to help place breathing tubes in the appropriate position, and the number of other devices that aid in resuscitation of cardiac arrest patients.
We are truly blessed to have such a generous community! We are an Intensive Care Unit (ICU) on wheels. While many other departments in the borough and throughout Alaska have various pieces of equipment that we have, none of them have the complete package. We have been very fortunate to gain all this equipment and we continually train on it in order maintain a high level of proficiency. The combination of high-quality CPR and the implementation of these technologies truly has had a positive impact on the resuscitation of cardiac arrest patients in Cooper Landing.
Clay Adam, Deputy Chief, EMS, Cooper Landing Emergency Services
Despite all these advances in technology, if patients do not receive timely CPR, regardless of how much equipment we use, the chances of survival are minimal. It is extremely important that everyone in our community learn CPR and have early access to automated external defibrillators. CLES regularly teaches community CPR classes. We have also worked with other agencies in the borough to provide extra defibrillators at Wildman’s Convenience Store, Sunrise Inn and the Cooper Landing Senior Center. If you are interested in learning CPR, please contact CLES at 907–595–1800 or email operations.cles@arctic.net for more information.
