New Life-Saving Device, the AutoPulse, Helps Blue Ridge Battle The Major Health Crisis of Sudden Cardiac Arrest

Fannin Regional Hospital Treating Sudden Cardiac Arrest in a Way Never Seen Before

Blue Ridge, GA (December 15, 2011) – Fannin Regional Hospital announced today that it is equipped with a new tool to help Emergency Staff treat sudden cardiac arrest (SCA). The ZOLL AutoPulse® Non-invasive Cardiac Support Pump can improve blood flow to the heart and brain during SCA. The AutoPulse can achieve these never-before-seen levels of circulation because of the unique, consistent chest compressions it generates. It can move more blood more effectively than any other method used today.

“Once a person is in cardiac arrest, every minute counts to get the heart beating normally again,” said Dr. Eric Simrod, Fannin Regional’s Emergency Department Medical Director. “For every minute that passes the chance of survival decreases by 10 percent. After 10 minutes, survival is unlikely. Our goal is to protect the lives of our citizens, and this purchase is an important step in helping to achieve that goal. I have been an Emergency Department Physician for more than 25 years, and I have never seen a device that does what the AutoPulse does. With it, we are better prepared to deal with SCA.”

Dr. Simrod also noted that another benefit of the AutoPulse is its ability to perform these consistent chest compressions as clinicians transport a patient. Whether in the back of an ambulance or on a hospital gurney, the AutoPulse also helps to ensure clinician safety during a rescue.

SCA is an abrupt disruption of the heart’s function, which causes a lack of blood flow to vital organs. This lack of blood flow can result in the loss of blood pressure, pulse, and consciousness. In nearly half of all victims, SCA is caused by an abnormal heart rhythm called ventricular fibrillation (VF). VF occurs when the nerves in the heart malfunction, causing the left ventricle (the heart’s main pumping chamber) to quiver or “fibrillate.” Stricken with this chaotic rhythm, the heart cannot effectively pump oxygenated blood to the brain and other vital organs throughout the body. About half of all victims who suddenly collapse outside of a hospital initially require defibrillation. For other victims, however, who have heart arrhythmias that will not respond to defibrillation, the critical action for survival is achieving effective blood flow that feeds oxygen to the body.

The human toll from SCA is alarming. It is the leading cause of unexpected death in the world and strikes without warning. In the U.S. alone, there are more than 325,000 deaths each year from out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. Currently, only about 5 percent of victims survive; 95 percent will die from SCA. The American Heart Association estimates that focusing on a strong Chain of Survival (early access to care, early CPR, early defibrillation, and early advanced medical care) can increase survival rates to 20 percent or more, and could save at least 40,000 lives each year. 

About the ZOLL AutoPulse

The major emphasis of 2010 American Heart Association Guidelines is on performing effective, high-quality CPR. The 2010 Guidelines recommend that when attempting defibrillation, rescuers should deliver 1 shock followed by immediate CPR, beginning with chest compressions for 2 minutes. Furthermore, the Guidelines note that the better the chest compressions performed (i.e., with adequate rate and depth and allowing complete chest recoil), the more blood flow they produce. The more interruptions in chest compressions, the worse the victim’s chance of survival from cardiac arrest.* According to the 2010 Guidelines, load-distributing band CPR (LDB-CPR), which the AutoPulse utilizes, “may be considered for use by properly trained personnel as an adjunct to CPR for patients with cardiac arrest in the out-of-hospital or in-hospital setting (Class IIb).”

The AutoPulse—the only device of its kind—delivers the consistent, uninterrupted chest compressions that the new AHA Guidelines are calling for. It is an automated, portable device with an easy-to-use, load-distributing LifeBand®  that squeezes the entire chest in a consistent, uninterrupted “hands-free” manner, improving blood flow to the heart and brain during cardiac arrest.*

Research studies on the effectiveness of the AutoPulse have been published in the following medical journals:

• In Prehospital Emergency Care, a retrospective case-controlled human study completed by Casner et al. found that the AutoPulse improved delivery of patients with beating hearts to the emergency department by 35%.
• University demonstrated that the AutoPulse generated pre-arrest levels of blood flow to the heart and brain.
• In Resuscitation, a human study completed by Timerman et al. showed that the AutoPulse generated 33% greater coronary perfusion pressure (CPP) than manual CPR conducted by medical residents. The American Heart Association has called CPP an important measurement of blood flow to the heart.
• In Circulation, an animal survival study conducted at Stanford University by Ikeno et al. resulted in 73% of subjects supported with the AutoPulse returning to normal blood flow and surviving, with 88% of the survivors determined to be neurologically normal. None of the subjects supported with conventional CPR survived.

For more information about ZOLL and its products, visit www.zoll.com. For more information on SCA, visit www.americanheart.org or www.early-defib.org.

About Fannin Regional Hospital

Fannin Regional Hospital is a general acute care, Joint Commission accredited, facility with 24 hour emergency room that has served the Tri-State area since 1977.  For more information on Fannin Regional Hospital visit www.fanninregionalhospital.com.