Hospital and ambulance receive LUCAS devices

The Kimball County Ambulance Service and Kimball Health Services now have additional equipment to better help save lives.

The ambulance service received two LUCAS chest compression systems, while KHS received one. The devices provide automatic chest compressions during CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitations).

"We want to be ready to assist to the very best of our abilities and this equipment will give us another tool in our belt to better their chances of survival," said Kimball County Ambulance Director Carla Goranson. "The ambulance crew recognizes that if we are using this equipment, that it is that person's worst day of their life."

Thanks to a $5.9 million grant awarded to the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services by the Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust, each Kimball County ambulance will have the device on board and KHS will also have the device on site. Part of the grant funds will be used to provide training to medical personnel for Nebraska ambulance services and rural hospitals. A total of 150 LUCAS devices will be distributed across the state over three years.

"Providing CPR to someone suffering cardiac arrest can be quite a challenge," stated Richard Harriger, chief nursing officer at Kimball Health Services. "Delivering consistent, effective chest compressions to a cardiac patient can mean the difference between life and death.

"Add the challenge working in the back of a moving ambulance providing compressions during miles of transport, first responders often have their hands full."

The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust was established in 1999 in the State of New York. According the trust's online site, Harry Helmsley founded a real-estate holding company that at one time was one of the biggest property holders in the United States, with buildings such as the Empire State Building, The Park Lane Hotel and the Ritz Carlton among its portfolio. Leona Helmsley was a hotel operator who assumed control of the company upon Harry's passing. The trust is administered by four trustees selected by Leona Helmsley. As a continuation of Mr. and Mrs. Helmsley's generous giving throughout their lifetimes, the Trust supports a diverse range of organizations with a major focus on health and medical research, in addition to programs in human services, education, cultural access, conservation, and the security and development of Israel.

In 2009, the Helmsley Charitable Trust created its Rural Healthcare Program to help improved access to quality care in the upper Midwest. Working closely with other partners, the program invests in projects that improve healthcare and the healthcare workforce. The trust's program funds projects to connect rural populations to specialty medical care and brings the latest medical technology to remote areas. The program awards grants in North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Wyoming, Minnesota, Iowa and Montana.

Kimball County Ambulance Service has received a total of over more than $47,000 worth of equipment from Lifeline Nebraska Grants which the Helmsley Charitable Trust is responsible for.

"KCAS is very grateful to the Helmsley Charitable Trust," stated Goranson."As well, we are grateful to the State of Nebraska DH&HS EMS Division for the two LUCAS Devices for the grant monies that the ambulance received."

Goranson, along with Heather Gawith, an emergency medical technician with the Kimball County Ambulance Service, gave an instructional meeting last Thursday evening at the Kimball Public Library to train their other crew members on how to use the new LUCAS device. A second training was held Monday morning.

Goranson said members of the ambulance crew were excited about the learning opportunity and also grateful for the assistance the new device will offer while helping patients.

"Patients will likely have a better outcome because the device can continue with chest compressions while the patient is being transported long distances, and in difficult situations such as when the patient is being moved," said Harriger. "If the LUCAS device is needed for a cardiac event at the hospital, having one on-hand will avoid having to contact the ambulance service to deliver one of theirs."