Lucas devices on board

The South Central Wyoming Emergency Medical Service (SCWEMS) recently received four machines that will help save lives in Carbon County.

Lucas devices are machines that perform chest compressions necessary in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and allow emergency responders to administer defibrillation shocks concurrently with CPR.

It is important to the ambulance service, according to SCWEMS Ambulance Director Heidi Sifford, because, "In a cardiac arrest the only two proven things that show any kind of outcome are adequate CPR and electricity [defibrillation]."

"As far as we are from the hospitals crew members tend to get very tired and fatigued and CPR diminishes on adequacy. So, having the Lucas devices being able to give that continuous rate and depth improves patient's outcomes," Sifford added.

Without a Lucas device the service preferably has two people performing CPR and they switch out every two minutes. "Because that's how quickly you get fatigued," Sifford said. The only time you have to stop a Lucas device is when the emergency responder has to analyze the patient's heart rhythm. If the machine picks up a deficiency in electrical conductivity of the heart it will shock the patient. CPR does not have to stop during the electric stimulation, increasing the odds of reviving a patient.

The Lucas devices were provided to SCWEMS by the Wyoming Office of Emergency Medical Services (WOEMS). At a cost of $16,000 per device totaling $64,000 for the four devices allotted to SCWEMS it is a significant financial investment to Carbon County emergency services.

Initially WOEMS only procured grant funding for one Lucas device for each ambulance service throughout the state of Wyoming. The grant ended up with additional funds which were used to purchase as many more Lucas devices as possible according to Sifford. SCWEMS was supposed to get one more unit after the original allocation, but the state ended up giving the service one for each ambulance station.

SCWEMS had their first unit in operation, out of the Saratoga station, by the end of July 2015 and the three additional units were received in early January. SCWEMS emergency responders were initially trained on the device last year and a new round of training is ongoing now that each station has its own device.

A training that will include staff from the Platte Valley Medical Clinic and the Saratoga volunteer fire department should happen within the next month.