Ensuring a higher level of care in emergency situations, the Great Bend City Council Monday night OKed the purchase of potentially life-saving devices for the Great Bend Fire Department.
The council approved the purchase of four X Series monitors/defibrillators from ZOLL Medical at a cost $120,212.18, and the purchase of the LUCAS 3.1 Chest Compression System from Stryker for $15,273.22.
“For the past three years, we’ve budgeted $45,000 per year to replace our defibrillator monitors,” Fire Chief Luke McCormick said. The idea was to replace the current monitors.
The ones in service now were bought in 2010, he said. “Monitors have about a five to seven year life expectancy. We’ve exceeded the life of the units we have now.” So over the past several months, a committee comprised of firefighters, captains and battalion chiefs from each shift researched options to replace the department’s existing cardiac monitors, McCormick said.