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TIPP CITY, OHIO - The Tipp City Emergency Medical Service has introduced its newest member to the community.
The Lucas 2 cardiac compression machine takes the place of a person doing cardiac compressions vital to CPR.
That doesn't mean someone will lose his or her job, said Mark Sense-man, EMS chief.
People still are needed to manage the patient's airway, start IVs and administer drugs, among other tasks required during emergency response. Senseman said the machine should help responders meet the goal of consistent compressions that medical science now says are vital during CPR.
For an adult, the compressions need to be two inches each time and applied at a rate of 100 each minute to be most effective, he said.
"One of the things studies have shown is people get distracted and the rate drops below 100, or they go too fast. You get tired and you can't get the two inches of depth or anytime you move the person it is very, very difficult, so some of your compressions are not effective," Senseman said.
EMS personnel will tell families on calls when they are going to use the machine.
The battery-powered machine can be assembled quickly by crews, placed on the patient and started. It is programmed to figure out how much force is needed to get the two inches of depth in compressions.
The machine is similar to an automated external defibrillator, or AED. It is designed so someone who has never seen it can open it and start, Sense-man said.
The Lucas 2 cost $11,000 and was bought with money from the city's capital improvement program. Tipp City is the first EMS in Miami County to have one of the units.
The first ambulance leaving station will use the compression unit. Plans are to purchase one additional unit in both 2013 and 2014 to have one for each ambulance.
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