White County EMS getting new heart monitors and intubation equipment worth some $122,000 thanks to a state grant.
EMS Director Mike Kerr said the department will be getting two monitors to replace older models that can no longer be upgraded. Kerr said these systems act as both a heart monitor and an advanced defibrillator within an ambulance.
“And as you squeeze the BVM that we use to breathe for the patient, you can set that to the tidal volume and respiration rate that you want and it’s got a visual cue,” Kerr said. “So if we have to have a first responder or law enforcement or somebody that has to help us with that, it gives them a visual cue that the paramedic sets up so that they know how hard to squeeze the bag.”
Kerr said the department is also getting eleven video laryngoscopes allowing first responders to better see what they are doing when putting a tube down a patient’s throat to help them breathe. Kerr said this is a totally new item for the department that will make intubation quicker and easier.
“We have a (tool) that’s called an Air-Q3 but it doesn’t help intubate,” Kerr said. “It just helps you to breathe them if you can’t get them intubated so this is something that we thought might be a big help to us.”
Kerr said the video laryngoscopes will be especially helpful for those working on their own as most of the department’s trucks only have one paramedic in them. Kerr said the department chose to purchase these items because the grant required purchases over $5,000.
“The equipment’s already been ordered,” Kerr said. “Some of it’s here. Of course we’re waiting on the grant to finish so that we can pay the vendors for the items before we put them on the trucks, so it’ll just be a short amount of time before they’re actually put into use and on the trucks. I’d say a couple weeks, at least less than a month.”
