Caledonia Fire Department Buys New Life-Saving Machines

The Caledonia Fire Department has purchased two new gadgets they hope will save lives and money.

We’re talking about the “AutoPulse,” which gives chest compressions to a person who needs CPR. The Fire Department purchased two AutoPulses last month, at a cost of about $16,000 each.

Here’s how it works: The patient is laid on the blue, plastic AutoPulse base, and then a wide band is connected over the chest. The band quickly tightens against the patient and begins regular chest compressions, freeing up the rescuer who would have been doing those compressions to do something else. (Watch the video to see how it works.)

Caledonia Fire Lt. Tom Ohl said the first time he saw one in action, “my jaw hit the floor.”

“It does a great job and it frees up a pair of hands,” he said.

Battalion Chief Gene Roeder has been advocating for the purchases of the AutoPulses, which he said are a big improvement over even the best emergency worker.

“Good CPR is only 30 percent as efficient as your heart,” he said.

The firefighters said that the public generally doesn’t realize everything that they have to do as they try to help a person fight back to life. In a typical situation, one rescuer is pumping the air bag, one is doing chest compressions, and a third is administering medications through an IV while tracking those meds on a chart so the team at the hospital knows what’s been done already.

“Everyone is jammed in around the person, shoulder-to-shoulder,” Roeder said.

The chest compressions are supposed to continue as the patient is hustled down the stairs and into the ambulance, but in narrow Caledonia farmhouse hallways, that’s not always possible. Now, the AutoPulse will deliver regular compressions to the patient without missing a beat.

Safer for Firefighters

For firefighters, the most dangerous part of a rescue operation is sometimes the ride to the hospital. Typically, a firefighter has to stand over the patient inside the ambulance to continue compressions as the driver races around curves. 

Roeder said he met a firefighter who had broken her neck when an ambulance stopped suddenly and she was thrown into the driver’s compartment.

“If the ambulance stops or turns suddenly, you’re going to have another accident,” he said. “We’re talking about improving the safety of guys in a moving ambulance.”

Now, as soon as Caledonia rescuers finish their AutoPulse training, they’ll be able to let the machine do the compressions -- and they’ll be able to sit safely, wearing seatbelts, in the back of the ambulance.

Increasing Patient Survival

The company that manufactures the AutoPulse said there are nearly 6,000 in use around the world, and that research shows that patients treated with one are more likely to survive than patients who are given traditional chest compressions.

“The AutoPulse [moves] blood more consistently than human providers,” spokesperson Diane Egan said. “Additionally, it offers the benefit of freeing up clinicians and rescuers to focus on other life-saving interventions.”

Roeder said that the AutoPulse is also far less likely to break ribs, which can be an unfortunate result of traditional chest compressions. That’s because a human rescuer focuses their energy on a small area of the chest, while the AutoPulse’s band compresses the entire chest area.

Saving Money, Making Work Easier

Roeder and Ohl said the AutoPulse is one of many new technologies they’re incorporating into their work to save people and improve their own safety. They showed off a stretcher that goes up and down at the push of a button, which is much easier on the firefighters.

“I gotta tell you, my back feels better,” Ohl said.

Roeder said he anticipates that the AutoPulse will lower worker’s comp costs, since firefighters will be less likely to be thrown around the back of an ambulance.

“If firefighters are hurt, they can’t work, and that costs the town money,” Roeder said.

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