A new device is helping local emergency volunteers save lives.
Greenport Fire Department recently unveiled its two new LUCAS CPR machines, designed to conduct cardiopulmonary resuscitation automatically. The machines allow first responders to provide effective and uninterrupted chest compressions on cardiac arrest patients.
“Performing manual chest compressions of high quality is both difficult and tiring, and impossible in certain situations,” reads LUCAS’ website. “[The machines] provide the same quality for all patients and over time, independent of transport conditions, rescuer fatigue or variability in the experience level of the caregiver. By doing this, it frees up rescuers to focus on other life-saving tasks and creates new rescue opportunities.”
Greenport volunteers teamed up with certified EMTs from Peconic Landing to give a public demonstration of how the new machines help save lives earlier this month.
“The machines bring an added level of safety for individuals resigning on the North Fork as it can be thirty minutes or more to the nearest major medical center,” Peconic Landing, which hosted the event, stated in a press release.
The machines allow rescuers to focus on other critical life-saving tasks during an emergency situation. They come at a cost of nearly $20,000 each and were paid for by the village though donations from the John May Mile.
