photo by: Joselyn King

Members of local emergency squads are presented with Autopulse resuscitation units by Ohio County officials. Pictured from left are Ohio County Commission President Zach Abraham, Commissioner Don Nickerson, Capt. Jason Milton of the Wheeling Fire Department, Wheeling Fire Department Chief James Blazier; Commissioner Randy Wharton; and Capt. Jeff Johnson of the Bethlehem Volunteer Fire Department.

First responders in Ohio County soon will be carrying life resuscitation units courtesy of opioid drug settlement money coming to counties in West Virginia.

Ohio County commissioners announced Tuesday the purchase of 22 Autopulse resuscitation system units from Zoll Medical. The first 14 of the devices will go to the Wheeling Fire Department, and the remaining eight to the county’s volunteer emergency squads.

Each of the units cost about $2,000, according to county officials. Money for the purchase comes from the West Virginia First Foundation, a board established to distribute West Virginia’s opioid drug settlement money to counties.

Ohio County is slated to get $700,000 in opioid settlement funds.

“With this purchase, every emergency response department — including Bethlehem, Clearview, Mozart, Stone Church, Triadelphia, Valley Grove, the Ohio County Emergency Medical Service and the Wheeling Fire Department — will be equipped with this life-saving equipment,” Ohio County Administrator Randy Russell told commissioners.

“When cardiac arrest strikes, a victim’s best chance of survival depends upon immediate and ongoing CPR. This is particularly true for victims of drug overdoses.”

The ZollResQCPR system is a manual CPR adjunct that consists of two devices — a manual pump and an airway pod, explained Ohio County Emergency Management Agency Director Lou Vargo. Used together, these devices improve blood flow to the brain and other vital organs and have been shown to increase survival from victims of cardiac arrest.

“Fentanyl is a very powerful narcotic 100 times more potent than morphine,” Vargo said. “When a person overdoses with fentanyl, the respiratory system is affected, and if not treated quickly the person eventually stops breathing.

“When cells continue to use the remaining oxygen in the body and if no treatment is started, the person’s heart, regardless of their age, goes into cardiac arrest. If CPR is not started immediately, death occurs.”

Vargo noted the pump also has a suction cup that attaches to the chest so that on the upstroke of chest compression, the rib cage is actually elevated and that increases a negative pressure within the chest. This results in an increase in blood filling the heart and an increase in output of the heart with the next compression.

The system also includes a ResQPOD that attaches to the airway that the EMS providers insert into the victim. The POD also increases the negative pressure in the chest. This results in near normal blood flow to the brain and other vital organs.

“Our goal is not only to restart the heart but to protect the brain and other organs so that we can increase the chance of survival and return the victim into normal activity,” Vargo said.

Deputy Director Tony Campbell added that recently, the Wheeling Fire Department, the Ohio County EMS, and county volunteer EMS paramedics attended a new program provided by Zoll named Advanced Cardiac Resuscitation. Local units in Ohio County will be the first to implement the program in the state.

In another matter, Vargo informed commissioners Ohio County has received an additional $74,000 West Virginia Homeland Security Grant. Past grants have provided for expanding the 911 system, and replacing some radios.

He explained he recently learned the state has available money to distribute after the agency reached out to the Ohio County EMA to tell them they would give them another $74,000 grant to replace all radios.

The radios are being ordered and are expected to arrive “in a couple of months,” according to Vargo. Commissioners approved the acceptance of the grant.

The commission meeting on Tuesday took place in the second floor courtroom as construction at the City-County Building is continuing. The next step in renovations is to finish the replacement of the stone pavers at both the 16th and Chapline street entrances, Russell said.

Melissa Marco, project coordinator for Ohio County, applied for and received a state Courthouse Facilities Grant to replace the pavers. The project will include the placement of a heat blanket under the pavers at the Chapline Street entrance.

Angelina Stone and Marble of Bridgeport submitted the only bid of $300,000 to do the work. The contractor already has been working on repairing the granite slabs and columns on the porticos.

The commission will next meet on May 6 at a time and location to be announced.