3 months ago
Peach County Emergency Medical Services has new equipment that could give patients better and faster medical help.
EMS Director Alfonzo Ford says they just bought two types of equipment used for heart attack emergencies.
In an emergency, Peach County Emergency Medical Services Director Alfonzo Ford says it's the paramedic's job to give patients the best chance of surviving.
He says the department just bought two new devices, the 12-lead EKG Transmission system and the auto pulse CPR unit to help those odds.
"We felt like we needed the auto pulse here because of that distance that we have to travel to the hospital," says Ford. "The rural location of some of the calls that we go on."
Ford says the auto pulse unit uses a band around the patient's torso to automatically compress the chest. He says that will pump five times as much blood as manual CPR while the paramedic pumps air.
He says it's not only better for patients, it's safer for EMT paramedics.
"The auto pulse provides that compression for you, and it allows the paramedic to be securely belted in the unit while the vehicle is in motion," says Ford.
Ford says the 12-Lead EKG Transmission system is now the standard in the medical field. It faxes and emails patients' vital signs to nearby hospitals before the patient gets there.
He says the digital system sends information about blood pressure, breathing, and heart rate en route, and replaces their outdated analog transmission system.
"The unit had to be stationary when we first did our transmission with the old system," says Ford. "But now we can do it on the run."
Ford says outfitting two ambulances with the equipment cost about $70,000, but he says that's money well-spent when it comes to saving lives.
Zoll, the company that makes the lifeband auto pulse unit says Peach County is the first in Central Georgia to have that particular technology.
Ford says they respond to about 300 emergency calls a month.
He says about 35% of those are true medical emergencies, about 25% are transfers between hospitals, and about 40% are non-emergency calls.
