(11/15/2004)
Vigilant Hose Company fire and
medical personnel are beaming with
pride these days having just
accomplished a more than 2-year
project securing Automated External
Defibrillators (AED's) for the
community. Known as "Public Access
AED's," VHC has been hard at work to
increase community survival rates
from Sudden Cardiac Arrests, which
can happen anytime, anywhere, to
anyone.
"Just this
past week, the VHC received another
grant from the Maryland Institute
for Emergency Medical Services
Systems (MIEMSS) that reimbursed the
fire department for its purchase,
installation and localized training
of numerous civilians on the
effective use of these critical
life-saving units," said Fire Chief
Robert Rosensteel, Jr., himself a
former long-time paramedic.
"Additionally, this 4th grant brings
our total support from the state's
EMS agency via separate AED programs
to some $30,000.00," said
Rosensteel. One of the programs is
known as the Rural Access AED
Program aimed at areas like that
served by Vigilant personnel.
The overall
project began under the leadership
of the immediate past chief, Frank
Davis, who continues to be
instrumental in the project. Leading
the effort for Vigilant has been a
team comprised of Ann Messner, Karyn
Myers and past chief Davis. VHC
President Frank Rauschenberg
reported that, "the committee has
done a superb job and given that for
the past 10 years the VHC has been
increasingly involved in emergency
medical services delivery, this was
a logical next step."
Vigilant has
been associated with several saves
of those who had experienced heart
attacks in the area and fire
personnel have praised AED's each
time. "We've carried an AED on Brush
66, our medical response unit, for
some time now. But, it was former
MIEMSS Region 2 Administrator Dick
Mettetal who encouraged us to take
on these bold initiatives knowing of
our commitment to community service.
Dick retired this past year but was
always close to those of us who
deliver emergency services for the
public. Although it initially
required a substantial outlay of
fire department funds then followed
by a great deal of coordination with
community and business leaders, all
these actions were the right thing
to do for those we serve," said
Chief Rosesteel.
Altogether,
a total of 4 grants have been
received totaling nearly $30,000.
Commenting on the activity to date,
VHC President Rauschenberg said,
"Community reaction has been
outstanding, too. AED's are now
becoming commonplace in airports,
shopping centers, office buildings
and even golf courses, and we are
deeply indebted to MIEMSS for their
advocacy and support for us."
According to
Chief Rosensteel, "an AED is small,
portable and easy to use, and even
enables anyone with minimal training
to give a potentially lifesaving
shock to a heart in cardiac arrest -
before the arrival of emergency
services. Each week it seems now we
hear of another documented save
somewhere in the region and as we
are constantly seeking ways of
improving our service this just made
sense to our members."
Designed
especially for the first person at
the scene of a cardiac arrest, an
AED tells the rescuer what to do,
step by step. It analyzes the
heart's rhythm and is designed to
recommend a shock only if the
person's heart needs it. AED's are
so simple to use, even inexperienced
grade school children have
demonstrated the skills to use them
quickly and correctly.
The newly
installed units around greater
Emmitsburg are like those found
county-wide in use in many public
places and on emergency vehicles,
too, thus making them compatible
with regard to standardized training
and even "interoperability" which
has become a by-word of the
emergency services since 9-11.
Medtronic Physio-Control of Redmond,
Washington manufactured Vigilant's
Life-Pack CR Plus units.
"Fibrillation is when the heart is
like a bowl of Jell-O - it's just
shaking. And, the American Heart
Association recommends
defibrillation within 3-5 minutes of
arrest. Sudden cardiac arrest is a
leading cause of death in our
country. A person in sudden cardiac
arrest becomes unconscious and
immediately drops without any
breathing or pulse. Although it's
vital to call 911, and begin CPR, it
sometimes is not enough and the
proper administration of an AED
significantly increases a person's
likelihood of survival," Rosensteel
said.
To date,
approximately 75 members of the
public have been trained on AED use.
Public Access AED locations around
greater Emmitsburg include the
Jubilee Food Store, Mount Saint
Mary's University (which received 2
units, 1 for the Security Office and
1 for the ARCC), the Mountain Manor
Rehabilitation Center, the
Emmitsburg Town Office, 1 each for
the Town's 2 Resident Deputies and
the fire station itself. In addition
to Brush 66, Vigilant also equipped
it's command vehicle, Duty 6, and
heavy rescue vehicle, Squad 6, plus
has a unit installed on the wall at
the main entrance of the fire
station for those times when
emergency vehicles are out on calls,
a public gathering is in the fire
station and/or for multiple
responses occurring at the same
time.
Via the
latest grant received last week,
Vigilant will able to increase
training of its personnel who will
be training even more members of the
public and also purchase additional
public access AED's. On the
wall-mounted units, the storage
cabinets have alarms that sound when
the cabinet door is opened. The
primary reason for the alarms is to
notify persons in the area who can
immediately dial 911 without delay.
A secondary purpose of the alarms is
to prevent tampering; no problems
have been experienced to date.
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