A portable device now available on all Redlands Fire Department apparatus is already showing measurable results in the department’s response to calls involving cardiac arrest.
In December 2017 the department took delivery of six Zoll AutoPulse Resuscitation Systems. The AutoPulse is a portable device that delivers Cardio-Pulmonary-Resuscitation (CPR) chest compressions to the entire chest during a cardiac arrest event, improving blood flow by at least 33 percent over that of normal manual compressions performed during standard CPR. Studies have shown the device increases post cardiac arrest survival rates.
Last year, City Manager Enrique Martinez in evaluating City services to the public asked the Fire Department’s senior staff to identify specific ways to increase the survival rate of patients during emergency calls. When the battalion chiefs identified the AutoPulse equipment as a way to do so, the City Manager immediately directed the department to purchase the devices. Martinez himself became directly involved in negotiations with the company to purchase more devices with additional company support.
Between Jan. 1 and June 30, Fire Department personnel have used the AutoPulse resuscitation on 39 patients in full cardiac arrest. Of those, a return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) was obtained 21 times, a 54 percent success rate, far exceeding the national average of 12 percent for standard CPR.
“Having the ‘AutoPulse’ on Redlands Fire Department apparatus offers our residents the highest quality care in the area and frees up our Firefighter Paramedics on scene to focus on other life-saving interventions, which in turn will increase our effectiveness during these emergencies,” says Redlands Deputy Fire Chief Rich Sessler. “The Redlands Fire Department takes great pride in continuing to provide the highest level of care to our community with the addition of new and progressive equipment and we especially appreciate the City Manager’s demonstrated dedication to this mission by outfitting the department with the necessary equipment to achieve that level of care.”