Orlando firefighters lifted the accordion-like straps of the Zoll AutoPulse Compression Device and watched them tighten to a mannequin’s chest as Lt. Robert Anctil pressed a button on the end of the stabilizing board. Once fitted, it began the steady squeeze of CPR.
The device, which firefighters demonstrated at their downtown station in August, helped the agency gain EMS accreditation that month for patient care and ambulance service delivery.
On Monday, Orlando City Council members approved a grant that will help the Fire Department purchase 10 more.
The Florida Department of Health’s EMS Matching Grant will award $123,747.75 toward the equipment. As part of the grant agreement, the Orlando Fire Department will shell out about $40,000 of its own money, roughly 25 percent of the funds granted by the FDOH, to bring the total to about $165,000.