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Ohio County fire departments now have AutoPulse machines -- technology that provides consistent, automated CPR to victims of sudden cardiac arrest.
County commissioners approved the purchase of six AutoPulse machines. They were presented to county fire departments Wednesday night following an AutoPulse training session at The Highlands Event Center.
Departments receiving the new equipment include Stone Church, Triadelphia, West Liberty and Clearview. The sixth apparatus is to be kept at the Ohio County Emergency Management Agency.
Each of the machines cost $14,220.
Lisa Fortunato, territory manager for Zoll Medical Group, trained firefighters on the AutoPulse and explained why the technology is superior to traditional manual CPR.
A person properly administering CPR will reinstate about 25 percent of blood flood to the patient's heart and 30 percent to the brain within the first minute, according to Fortunato. The AutoPulse restores 97 percent of blood flow during that time.
Compressions will remain consistent even as a patient is transported down steps, or transported in an ambulance on a bumpy road, according to Fortunato.
A paramedic also doesn't have to stand in the moving ambulance while CPR is administered, and they are also free to try other means of reviving the patient as the AutoPulse conducts the pressure.
Deb Dague, of the West Liberty Fire Department, said she was particularly excited the department now had an AutoPulse. West Liberty firefighters have the longest area to travel to get a patient to the hospital.
"You can get so tired, and you're trying to administer CPR while you're going around turns," she said. "For us, this can be extremely exhausting when you are doing CPR for 20 to 25 minutes.
"We want the best for our patients," said Dague.