The Beloit Fire Department is improving its life-saving capabilities thanks to a Mercyhealth donation of a mechanical CPR device.
The LUCAS Chest Compression System has been awarded to 30 regional emergency medical service agencies by the Mercyhealth Development Foundation.
The new mechanical CPR device is proven to help boost cardiac arrest survival rates and save lives, according to Jay MacNeal, Director of Mercyhealth's MD-1 Physicians.
"The benefits to both the patient and first responders is staggering," MacNeal said. "LUCAS is a labor-saving device with proven clinical improvements in our system. Performing high-quality CPR typically occupies several EMS providers, but the LUCAS device's automated compressions free these providers to perform other life critical skills. With these devices on board our agencies' ambulances, as well as high-fidelity simulation training and advanced protocols, we hope to improve our patients' cardiac arrest survival to over three-to-four times the national average."