A chest compression machine, freeing up the hands of emergency personnel when CPR is needed, is a wish-list item for Petrolia’s hospital, say officials with a charity fundraising for its purchase.
“We’re always searching for ways to better the care in ways that we can,” said Nicole Newman with the Charlotte Eleanor Englehart Hospital Auxiliary.
“That’s why we wanted to raise funds for this device.”
Kenneth Stubbs with medical technology company Stryker demonstrated the Lund University Cardiac Arrest System (LUCAS) Chest Compression Machine for members of the public as part of an auxiliary campaign awareness event Friday.
Three settings means the machine can administer compressions at rates of 101, 111 or 120 per minute; it has 45-minute batteries; can plug in to run continuously; and measures the newtons required for a 2.1-inch compression with every strike, Stubbs said.
It’s an extra set of hands, he said.
“And it calms the scene, takes the chaos out of it.”
The piece of equipment intended for CEEH was being inspected in Sarnia and was likely going to be available for use at the Bluewater Health Petrolia site within a week, he said.
Demonstrations were also held with hospital staff on Friday, he said.
“The feedback was great. Engagement was great.”
The $20,000 Project Thumper campaign to fund the device meanwhile reached the halfway point Friday, with a $4,000 donation from the CEEH Foundation, auxiliary president Joy Smith said.
About $5,000 from the auxiliary, from past fundraising efforts, got the ball rolling and a Valentine’s chocolate sale added $600, she said.
There’ve also been donations, a cookie day at Petrolia Street Bakery is planned, an online auction via VanKlaveren Auctions Inc. is planned May 4-7, and the typical $1,000 raised from the auxiliary’s annual tag day, this year May 19, will go to the cause, she said.
The tag day tradition sees auxiliary members provide pieces of paper with string attached to community members in exchange for donations, she said.
Fundraising totals for the auxiliary vary each year, but it typically raises money for several pieces of equipment for the hospital annually, Newton said.
Past purchases have included beds and a vein finder, Smith said.
“This one is going to be a huge one,” she said.
For more details about the campaign and to make donations, email [email protected], Newton said.