The emergency room at Greene County Medical Center recently received a Lund University Cardiac Arrest System (LUCAS), a tool that standardizes chest compressions for patients needing CPR.
“With manual CPR, it takes about 90 seconds to achieve the best blood flow,” said Lori Herrick, emergency room manager at the medical center. “With LUCAS, it only takes a few seconds. So this is a big win for the medical center and our patients needing CPR.”
LUCAS delivers uninterrupted chest compressions at a constant rate and depth, which provides constant blood flow to patients experiencing cardiac arrest. The mechanically-controlled chest compressions enable a higher blood flow to the brain and heart compared to manual compressions.
“The LUCAS device ‘frees up’ one emergency responder from performing chest compressions,” said chief nurse executive Katie Heldt. “Think of a rural facility, or a rural EMS call, where there are a limited number of people available. LUCAS allows for one more person to perform other life-saving tasks at the scene.”
The medical center obtained LUCAS thanks to a grant through the Helmsley Charitable Trust, which aims to “connect rural patients to emergency medical care, bring the latest medical therapies to patients in remote areas and provide state-of-the-art training for rural hospitals and EMS personnel,” according to the Trust’s website. The medical center received one LUCAS 2 Chest Compression System, valued at approximately $15,000, and Greene County EMS received two.
