The Department of Health has installed state-of-the-art mechanical cardio-pulmonary resuscitation devices in all front-line ambulance units and is the first State to do so.
More than 1,000 LUCAS devices, which deliver automated, consistent compressions to a patient’s chest, have been installed in every NSW Ambulance Sprinter vehicle.
Minister for Health, Ryan Park said losing a loved one to a sudden cardiac arrest was devastating, and the Government wanted to ensure that front-line paramedics had the resources they needed to have the best chance of saving a life.
“It means every patient, no matter where they are in the State, now has access to life-saving technology when they need it the most,” Mr Park said.
He said the devices had been rolled out following a successful two-year study involving 1,300 paramedics, as well as doctors and nurses from 15 hospitals in Sydney and Wollongong.
“Simply put, having the LUCAS machines in ambulances will save lives. Each year we know more than 8,500 people across NSW experience out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, yet only about one in 10 survive,” Mr Park said.
“For every minute that a patient is in cardiac arrest and not receiving effective CPR or defibrillation their chance of survival drops by 10 per cent.”
Chief Executive of NSW Ambulance, Dominic Morgan said the devices would support paramedics to deliver lifesaving treatment until they reached hospital.
“These devices free-up paramedics so they can concentrate on administering other life-saving treatment to the patient,” Dr Morgan said.
“Putting these machines in ambulances means fewer families will have to suffer the heartbreak of losing a loved one to cardiac arrest.”
