By David Guo
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (Pennsylvania)
Copyright 2006 P.G. Publishing Co.
Don’t be alarmed if you pass the Berkeley Hills Fire Co. in Ross and hear a furtive plea like, “Annie, Annie, are you OK?”
Not to worry. Fire Chief Paul Hill will just be getting his first licks of practice in on the department’s new Resusci Anne doll, the ubiquitous, Parisian-bred mannequin used to train rescue workers in cardiopulmonary resuscitation.
Unlike earlier models, Chief Hill said, the one donated to Berkeley Hills comes with a device to mimic the use of the automated external defibrillator units now on hand at various public locations.
Although the mannequins have been around for a while, the AED trainer is new. “It’s basically like a little remote for your TV. It’s a pretty cool setup,” he said.
“It’s new to me as well,” the chief said, which is why he’s looking forward to getting trained himself soon.
From there, he hopes to spread the word to the other fire departments in Ross. The initial target was to train 1,000 people in Ross within a year. The chief said that might be on the high side, but he still has that goal within his sights.
For decades, CPR students have used the doll as a trainer, checking vital signs on her, shaking her to see if the patient is unconscious and rendering mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.
As emergency health-care techniques have progressed, so, too, has the sophistication of the doll, which was believed to have been first used in France. Legend has it that the face bears a resemblance to that of a young woman whose body was fished from the Seine around the turn of the 20th century. Before the unknown woman’s remains were disposed of in an unmarked pauper’s grave, a death mask was made.
In the mid-1950s, Dr. Peter Safar, the University of Pittsburgh pioneer who developed chest-compression-based resuscitation, wanted a life-size doll to aid in training. He approached a Norwegian toy maker who used the death mask as a model and the result was sold under the name “Resusci Anne,” later called “CPR Annie” in the United States.
The training doll gives signals telling when the trainee is applying the correct amount of pressure in the right spot or breathing correctly into the victim’s mouth. With the training, the students learn the “feel” of giving quick, lifesaving emergency treatment.
The chief gave much of the credit for the acquisition to Michael A. Wolcott, owner of Quick Mick Chrysler Jeep, about a half mile away from Berkeley Hills.
“Quick Mick,” as he likes to be known, said the Berkeley Hills firefighters had been plenty quick in responding to the occasional fire at his business. He’d like to take more credit for the doll, but all he did was recommend Berkeley Hills’ name to the Greater Pittsburgh Car Dealers Association, who worked with the state and national groups associations in making the award.
It didn’t cost Mr. Wolcott a dime, not that he hasn’t been a well-known supporter of the firefighters in years past. Three years ago, the connection between “Quick Mick” and the Berkeley Hills fire company was sealed in bold-faced letters that appeared on a message board outside the fire hall.
“Thank you Quick Mick for your donation,” it said, which Mr. Wolcott thought was nice, but odd, because he had been donating for about 20 years. What the firefighters were trying to do was encourage/embarrass other businesses along McKnight Road to contribute, which was difficult because so many of the businesses were national companies.
“We’ve had a couple of fires here, and they’ve been super,” Mr. Wolcott said. “Those kinds of places need all the money they can get.”
The training doll comes as extra good news for Ross public safety workers. Late this summer, firefighters received 10 First Alert radios that will link into a new, nationwide radio frequency for emergency alerts.
The new radios use a frequency employed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration that previously had been reserved for weather alerts. Now, it can be used for a broader range of emergencies as outlined by the Department of Homeland Security, said U.S. Rep. Melissa Hart, R-Bradford Woods, who made the donation.