Physio-Control, a US-based provider of emergency medical response solutions, has released Lucas 2, a chest compression system which helps in maintaining blood flow to the brain as well as to other parts of the body in the event of a cardiac arrest.
The latest chest compression system offers better cardio-pulmonary resuscitation (CPR) as the treatment in case of heart attacks should begin within 4-6 minutes otherwise both the heart and brain would get damaged.
Physio-Control said that CPR involves a regular pattern of chest compressions and breaths to ensure oxygenated blood is kept flowing throughout the body and brain.
The Lucas 2 system can operate for up to 45 minutes with rechargeable lithium battery once set up or indefinitely on main power.
Featuring piston driven by an electrically powered compressor, the device automatically compensates for the size of a patient with no special setup required. In addition, compression and decompression can be timed equally.
A person performing CPR for more than two minutes should handover it to another person to avoid fatigue as offering effective chest compressions manually is very tiring, according to the Australian Resuscitation Council (ARC).
Further, ARC guidelines also require that during CPR a patient’s chest should be compressed not more than 5cm.
Apart from eliminating the need of manual compressions, the device can also reduce crowding and chaos in the field or in the emergency department.
Designed to operate effectively even in tough environments, the new model will alert the operator with an alarm and stop compressions if it senses a chest compression is greater than 5cm.
The device is claimed to significantly improve the quality and consistency of compressions compared to manual CPR while in transportation or in hospital.
The company released the earlier version of chest compression system, Lucas I, in 2002.