By Isle of Wight Observer
Life-saving portable equipment to resuscitate patients following a cardiac arrest has been provided by the Friends for the Island’s Ambulance Service. A £35,000 donation allowed the service to acquire four such items, each to be carried by an ambulance.
“They’re worth their weight in gold” said Operations Station Manager, Matthew Colson.
“We already had one of the units, and this has so proved its worth that we turned to the Friends in the hope of getting more.”
Clinicians can suffer fatigue when carrying out the procedure manually for any length of time. To overcome this, mechanical means have been developed across the world.
Although initially the equipment was confined to hospitals because of its bulk, advances in battery technology and design have made it possible in more recent years for it to be carried by ambulances.
Matthew added: “Equipping Isle of Wight ambulances with these devices will considerably improve the chances of a successful resuscitation, resulting in patient recovery from an otherwise fatal condition.”
Isle of Wight Observer