Stephens Co. Hospital Purchasing Chest Compression Device

Stephens County EMS is getting a new piece of equipment to help them in cardiac arrest cases.

On Monday, the Stephens County Hospital Authority voted unanimously to purchase a LUCAS Chest Compression System for the county’s EMS.

Hospital Administrator Ed Gambrell said that the device assists EMS personnel by performing chest compressions during CPR.

“This device does the compression part on its own, so it is strapped on to the chest of the patient and it is turned on and it can go for up to 45 minutes on one battery charge and saves the EMS personnel from having to do a chest compression for that long,” said Gambrell.

Gambrell went on to say that the current guidelines on performing CPR require a lot on a person performing chest compressions and this machine makes that job a lot easier, potentially helping to save lives.

“The American Heart Association has changed its standard in recent years and the standard is the ideal compression is 2 inches deep and there are approximately 100 compressions per minute,” said Gambrell. “That is extremely tiring on anybody to try to keep up with a consistent compression for very long.”

The new machine is costing Stephens County Hospital about $14,700.

At this time, the hospital is purchasing just one unit.