GREENWOOD – Sussex County paramedics have a new tool in their medical arsenal – a device that can replace hands in performing CPR, the first in the state. The devices, put into service at 10 county medic vehicles this week, deliver a series of sharp compressions to the chest – 100 per minute – in lieu of human arms doing the same.
The system will keep paramedics from getting tired – exhaustion begins quickly after just two minutes of the rapid process – and work while a patient is being transported, allowing medics to be buckled in rather than standing up over a patient. “I cannot tell you how many times I have been thrown forward,” said paramedic Joe Hopple, demonstrating the LUCAS device, manufactured by a Swedish company.
The system can also be used while a patient is being carried on a stretcher out of a building, meaning first responders don’t have to stop CPR to take someone into the hospital.
Read More Sussex gets automatic CPR machines
