With the capabilities of new technology along with the expertise of Beaufort County EMTs, the team is saving lives across the area. The tool is called the Lucas 2, a device designed to give chest compressions to someone having a heart attack.

[caption id="attachment_7777" align="alignleft" width="150"]<a href="http://www.yourislandnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/lucas-2-pic-2.jpg"><img class="size-thumbnail wp-image-7777" title="lucas 2 pic 2" src="http://www.yourislandnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/lucas-2-pic-2-150x150.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="150" /></a> The Lucas 2 gives chest compressions.[/caption]

For the last eight months, Beaufort EMTs have used this tool to help  save close to 50 lives, that’s more than one life a week. When a cardiac arrest call goes out, minutes matter and can make the difference between life and death. The steady supply of oxygen to the heart and brain is necessary, making chest compressions critical. But those compressions manually can be difficult and tiring, and impossible in certain situations.
“There are times we are walking down narrow hallways or down stairs when we physically can’t do compressions. The American Heart Association says compressions shouldn’t stop for more than 10 seconds, and with the Lucas 2, those compressions don’t stop,” according to Donna Ownby, Director of Beaufort County EMS.
The county has only one of these $12,500 vital machines. But by using grant money, a second Lucas 2 has been purchased and should be here by the end of the month.