NEWS

Harris Elmore FD gear upgrade called ‘game changer’

Jon Stinchcomb
Reporter

ELMORE – The Harris Elmore Fire Department recently upgraded some of its emergency medical services equipment, including new cardiac monitors, replacing nearly 12-year-old models.

Assistant Chief Michael McGinnis said the upgrades are a “game changer” for the community his department serves.

With the old heart monitors reaching the end of their usable life, McGinnis said, the department upgraded to the Zoll X series.

The new monitors let dispatched EMS teams transmit a patient’s heart rate directly to the hospital through a wireless Internet connection. The hospitals receive the information via computer or fax, allowing them to follow a patient’s heart condition even before they’re “wheeled through the doors,” McGinnis said.

In addition, the new monitors detect a patient’s “underlying” heart rhythm, even while CPR is being performed. Combined with the Zoll Autopulse, a mechanical CPR device, McGinnis said the upgrades will improve outcomes for cardiac patients.

The cost of the equipment was $57,612.55, including a trade in of the old units, according to Harris Township records, plus $4,905 for modems in the emergency vehicles.

The department also has 24-hour paramedic-level staffing throughout the year, he said, after Harris Township residents passed an EMS levy in the fall of 2013.

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