Auto-Pulse

[Ghost-Tech]

It was the Thumper

[akroeze]

Well you are the only person I have ever heard of who uses it. It has just been taken off the list of mandatory ambulance equippment by the MOH. But if it helps you that is good.

When did it get taken off the list? Didn't hear about that... have an updated list link so I can see what else has changed? Also, I heard that the BLS standards were being updated... have they been released?

[Ghost-Tech]

Our Department loves to waste money so they bought 14. However, they got the money through government grants from the 9/11 commission. Free Money only if you spend it. That was the deal. So they spent it. We just got trained and we are to put them on our rigs March 17.

I am not completely against it until we give it a shot. Then I will have hands on comments for you. I appreciate all the posts from the good guys/gals out there. For those of you who wish just to criticize...so be it. What else can you do......piss poor job horrible pay. Hope you have a back-up.

NY

[rescue25]

My agency has several, and I actually just used it today on a patient. My opinion on the Autopulse is mixed.

One one hand, it is very helpful considering it frees up a provider to do something else. And of course you don't have to worry about getting tired doing chest compressions.

On the other hand, it's pretty bulky and can be more trouble than its worth if you don't have much room to work. We've also had a few quality control issues... in one instance, a plastic piece on the compression band snapped off WHILE the AP was doing compressions on a pt. It flew into the air and almost took out an eye on one of our providers. :shock: Needless to say we had to switch to good old fashioned CPR at that point.

So basically, I think they're useful but considering the price... I don't know that I would necessarily recommend buying them, unless you have extremely long txp times to the hospital (which we don't; there are 3 hospitals within 5 minutes drive time, going code 3, and several more within 10 minutes).

[Guest]

The Genesis is being taken off the manditory equipment list? Yeah, we all know those get used so often lol.

[Dustdevil]

The debate here seems to be taking a dubious direction.

Nobody anywhere has questioned whether or not a machine doing your compressions for you was a good thing. That is a given. It's been a given for over thirty years. All you young pups think this is something revolutionary, but we've had CPR machines like the Thumper and HLR since the 1970's. Yes, it's great to have that extra pair of hands free. No question about it. But that is not the issue.

The issue is whether or not the physiological theory of the Autopulse is superiour to CPR rendered manually or by an existing device like the Thumper. That is what is being studied and debated.

Of course, it's all BS really. The same thing will happen with the Autopulse that happened with the Thumpers. Big cities, where you have two medics and four firemen on every CPR run, will have them. Rural systems where you frequently have NO help outside the ambulance crew will not have them. As usual, those who could actually benefit from them will never have them.

[rescue25]

You're certainly right about that: we've got 3 Autopulses and a gaggle of providers at every cardiac arrest, <10 minutes out to any hospital. I wish we could donate them to an underfunded agency in an outlying county who would definitely benefit from having them, but we all know that isn't gonna happen.

[Ghost-Tech]

StonyBrook University put out a study in regards to medics and EMT's doing CPR in a moving Ambulance and the report was stunning. Effective CPR in an Ambulance on a highway with no traffic was producing a 27% effective rate of CPR. On city streets in dropped even lower to 17%. This test was done by some of the best Instructors and experienced EMS personnel NY had to offer. THe auto-pulse actually produced a normal blood-pressure and pulse and CPR was effective above 90% on both city and highway conditions. This things works....it may turn out to have some flaws but its effectiveness has outweighed any thing brought up so far. I know Brentwood Ambulance Co in Suffolk County NY has been using them for nearly 6 months now and have nothing but good things to say so far. One of the best things I personally like about it is that I can sit down in the back of the ambulance and put my seatbelt on. I know most of you think that is silly but I have been in the back and been thrown around way too many times. I have escaped serious injury but I have seen many that have not. Stay safe.

[mommaparamedic]

A transfer service carrying an autopulse? How often would you use it transferring patients? :shock:

Contrary to popular belief, we actually do emergency calls as well. In our neck of the woods the nursing homes hate to call 911 least their medicare funding get cut off or they start to get investigated. Gotta love those "some difficulty breathing" calls.