Photo by Howard Owens.
The LUCAS Chest Compression System is a proven lifesaver, and even if it can't save every person suffering a cardiac event, it can save more people than manual CPR alone.
Though, any attempt at CPR until medics arrive is better than no life-saving attempt.
That was the message of speakers on Saturday at the Alabama Fire Hall during a ceremony thanking the Woodward family for donating a LUCAS system to the Alabama Volunteer Fire Department.
"Chest compressions during CPR are the single most important and most effective life-saving measure when doing CPR, and the LUCAS device implements those compressions perfectly to the right depth, and the right timing and the right speed to give the patient the utmost chance of life," said Wendy Thompson, president of the Alabama Fire District.
The devices can cost as much as $20,000.
The Woodward family has been associated with the Alabama Hotel since 1950. The current owner is Bonnie Woodward, whose husband, Mike Woodward, died July 11. CPR was performed, and a LUCAS system was deployed by medics when they arrived; it didn't save him, but the Woodward family recognized the importance of the availability of the device in Alabama.
"I'm sure, you know, being from Alabama and the family and the roots here and the community is why she wanted to contribute to this fire department," said her son, Mark Woodward.
"What I witnessed was that it allowed the first responders to focus on dealing with the hospital, talking to the doctors, what do we do next," Mark said. It also afforded them space to work. Imagine somebody there in the way while you're trying to do all that other work. It was something that just allowed the first responders to do the best job that they could."
Mark acknowledged that not everybody can be resuscitated, "but I'm certain that this device will save lives because there are those people that, with this device, they'll survive where they otherwise wouldn't have."
In dedicating the new device, Pastor Ron Dart of Genesee Country Church noted the blessings of advanced medicine. He said he was the youngest of five or six siblings (he explained this was a topic not much discussed in his family), and with all of his brothers and sisters dying in childbirth, he said it was sobering to think about his survival.
"I happened to come along quite a bit later when there was more medical development taking place in the medical field," He said. "Due to that medical advancement, I'm here."
He said the advancements in health care are a gift from God.
"You know, God has enabled man to learn more about the complexity of how God has created us," Dart said. "So, a passage of Scripture says we are fearfully and wonderfully made. And I firmly believe that. We do not just, poof, happen. We have an Almighty God who has laid out a desire for mankind to be able to be upon this earth and to function and to live."
Photo by Howard Owens
Photo by Howard Owens
Photo by Howard Owens
Photo by Howard Owens.
