Three state of the art emergency response devices are helping increase the speed and fluidity of the Montesano Fire Department in performing its life-saving duties.

The EMV Plus 731 Series ventilator, the Auto Pulse Mechanical CPR device and the X-series monitor and defibrillator have been acquired by the Montesano Fire Department within the last few months. The separate devices, all manufactured by Zoll Cardiac Resuscitation Devices, each have a specific purpose and are all three currently in use by the fire department.

“Each one actually has some pretty innovative capabilities,” said Montesano Fire Department Lt. Rick Watkinson.

The 731 Series — a $16,272 piece of equipment — recently was acquired through a grant from a local organization. Watkinson says he was tasked by Grays Harbor Emergency Medical Services and Trauma Care Council medical program director Dr. Canfield to find a critical care transport ventilator, “that had capabilities in excess of what our (then) current ventilators had,” Watkinson said.

Recent studies by emergency response organizations throughout the country found too much oxygen can actually be harmful to a patient who is undergoing ventilation treatment. The department’s previous ventilator had only two settings that could administer either 100 or 50 percent oxygen ventilation to the patient. The new ventilator lets the department personalize the care an individual receives to as low as 21 percent oxygen.

“The person I just took who was intubated in critical care was at 35 percent. Before, we didn’t have those capabilities,” Watkinson said.

The unique capabilities of the machine include the ability to input oxygen settings recommended by resperitory therapists, and the machine has both continuous pulmonary artery pressure (CPAP) and bi-level positive airway pressure (BiPAP) capabilities. The former administers continuous oxygen flow to the patient while the latter gives the patient a burst of oxygen when inhaling and exhaling. Having a ventilator with BiPAP capabilities allows for safer treatment when administering oxygen to patients with respiratory issues.

“It’s just a really sweet machine that allows us capabilities that we didn’t have before,” Watkinson said.

Another piece of new equipment, the AutoPulse Mechanical CPR device, was acquired by the department in conjunction with four new defibrillators all coming from the result of the fire levy passed in February.

The battery-driven CPR device, valued at $10,000, adopts a modern approach to CPR.

“Recent studies show that uninterrupted CPR leads to the most success in returning spontaneous circulation and the person making it through a cardiac arrest,” Watkinson said. “Whether it’s hands on CPR or mechanical CPR, they’re finding if you stop for 10 seconds you never get back that (previous level) of circulation to the patient.”

The mechanical device allows for CPR to be administered for the entirety of its 40-minute battery life, increasing the chance that a patient survives a cardiac arrest. The AutoPulse utilizes a load distributing band that compresses two inches into the chest in addition to squeezing the chest wall from the sides, recreating the normal blood flow prior to the cardiac arrest.

“You get a large increase in blood pressure which helps the oxygenation of the brain and increases the chances of survival,” Watkinson said.

The department has also acquired four new defibrillators to replace the old models. The decision to go with the Zoll X series defibrillator came after an evaluation of a number of manufacturers. After a 6-month trial period and the passing of the levy, the department decided that it was the best option.

“It was extremely important that we got the right equipment to meet the needs of the community,” Montesano Fire Chief Corey Rux said.

Summit Pacific Medical Center and Grays Harbor Community Hospital both use the X series, making the transition of patients from the ambulance to the hospital a more seamless process, Watkinson said.

“It helps us transition the patient with minimal interruption,” he said.

The machine gives real-time feedback on CPR being administered to a patient, telling responders if they need to speed up, slow down or administer more pressure to provide the appropriate standard of care. Even if the mechanical CPR device is used, Watkinson said responders will first need to perform traditional CPR on the patient for about four minutes.

In addition to helping responders perform their duties in the most efficient way possible, the device allows them to send the readings via Wi-Fi to hospitals. While the old defibrillators had similar capabilities, they were not compatible with Wi-Fi.

“We can transfer the readings to the doctor at the hospital so they can see their heart rate in real time,” Watkinson said.

Other departments throughout the county are putting these devices to use, but the Montesano Fire Department is currently the only department in the state that has all three state of the art devices.

“We’re extremely happy about the outcome,” Rux said.