By Greg Welter
The Chico Enterprise-Record
CHICO — Area ambulance services and other emergency medical providers are showing off the latest life-saving gadgets and gizmos during National Emergency Medical Services Week.
Among the most advanced is a device known as a 12-lead EKG that analyzes a patient’s heart rate at the scene of an emergency, or during medical transport, and relays the information directly to an emergency room physician.
The relay is done using a specially equipped cell phone.
Emergency medical technician Michael Rowan said the machine allows responders to get immediate feedback from a doctor, who is looking at the same information they are. Decisions about treatment can be made before the victim even reaches the hospital.
Currently, Enloe Medical Center ambulances and the FlightCare helicopter have the analyzer, as do First Responder rigs. The devices were paid for through a Blue Shield of California grant awarded to the Enloe Foundation.
Another device, in use locally for just over a year, is called a combitube. It allows a trained user to quickly restore a patient’s breathing and prevent the reflux of gastric contents by closing off the esophagus.
When it comes to basic emergency medical treatment, Chico Fire Department inspector Marie Fickert said CPR is something everyone should know, and almost anyone can do.
Rowan said current thinking favors chest compressions to restart breathing and a heartbeat, rather than mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.
“Hard and fast compressions are the best way to get residual oxygen in the lungs working for the patient,” Rowan said.
Numerous groups in Butte County provide CPR and first aid training.
Life-saving and CPR certificates are generally good for two years. Several businesses and public buildings in Butte County also have automated external defibrillators, which can be used with minimal training to restore a heartbeat.
When it comes to deciding which of the area’s two ambulance services will respond to an emergency, First Responder paramedic Robin Sinclear said the county is divided up into responsibility areas, with the ambulance closest to the emergency always dispatched.
All Chico firefighters are also EMTs, Fickert said, and often work with paramedics from ambulance companies at emergency scenes.
Rowan and First Responder paramedic John Maples, though with different emergency medical services, agreed that the most important thing a person calling 9-1-1 with a medical emergency can do is supply a good location. “It really helps if the address is prominently displayed,” Maples said.
Emergency medical personnel also agree that the first 60 minutes following a critical injury is “the golden hour.” Appropriate action within that period can dramatically increase a patient’s chance of survival.
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