By Diana LaMattina, staff writer
The Post-Standard (Syracuse, New York)
Copyright 2006 Post-Standard
A Skaneateles Falls company credits WAVES with helping it perfect an emergency device that allows medics to determine blood pressure, even in a helicopter flying at ground speeds of 135 mph.
The device, made by Welch Allyn, automatically takes blood pressure readings, monitors the heart’s pace and condition and performs defibrillation. These features help the paramedic get a quick assessment of the patient’s condition.
“It’s a time when we’re losing volunteers left and right,” said Ed Binns, WAVES paramedic supervisor. "(The device) is like another person. We can hook the patient up and it frees us up a lot.”
The device, an upgrade of the PIC 50, does not have a release date yet.
Earlier this year, Welch Allyn engineers met weekly with WAVES paramedics to perform tests while riding in an ambulance or Onondaga County sheriff’s helicopter.
The trials and studies gave engineers designing motion-tolerant blood pressure technology an opportunity to see it in action.
“The results we got back proved invaluable to the engineers. The product is much more solid because of the trials,” said Dan Sommers, a Welch Allyn engineer. “They saw how it worked, and it was eye-opening. There are not enough times they get to actually see it in use.”
Paramedics liked the applications included in the initial designs. Paramedics said they were more than willing to share some of their experiences with engineers to help them better understand the time, space and staffing constraints they regularly deal with.
In return for access to an ambulance, helicopter and paramedics, Welch Allyn gave WAVES four automated external defibrillators and one PIC 50.