By The City of Wyoming

The City of Wyoming Department of Public Safety – Fire recently partnered with the Metro Health Hospital Foundation to purchase much-needed emergency medical response equipment. The Foundation grant, which totaled $44,100, was used by the department to purchase three Zoll compression devices. These devices provide automated cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) to victims of sudden cardiac arrest.

City of Wyoming firefighters are trained and equipped as Emergency Medical Technicians, thanks to previous support from the Foundation for training and equipment. In this capacity they respond to more than 4,500 medical calls throughout the City each year. The medical interventions they provide include administering aspirin or EpiPens, using advanced airways, and checking blood glucose levels. They are often called upon to perform CPR as well.

Prior to being awarded the grant and obtaining the equipment, staff were required to perform CPR manually.  The new equipment allows them to connect the patient to the CPR compression device and let the machine do CPR perfectly and efficiently for any amount of time, thereby lessening injury to first responders and improving outcomes for individuals in critical situations. The Zoll devices have already saved three lives since the department has started using them.

“Having three Zoll compression devices is a game-changer for our department,” said Brad Dornbos, EMS coordinator and firefighter for the Wyoming Department of Public Safety. “Thanks to the grant and the on-going support from the Metro Health Hospital Foundation, we are now able to administer a new level of care to our residents in their greatest time of need. Using these CPR devices allows another firefighter to perform other critical tasks early on to improve the outcome of the patient.”