Thanks to the Friends - Ambulances Get Life-Saving Equipment

Truly life-saving portable equipment that attempts to resuscitate patients following a cardiac arrest has been provided by the Friends for the Island’s Ambulance Service. A £35,000 donation allowed the service to acquire four such items, each to be carried by an ambulance. “They’re worth their weight in gold,” said the appreciative Operations Station Manager, Matthew Colson. “We already had one of the units, and this has so proved its worth that we turned to the Friends in the hope of getting more.” Clinicians, he said, could suffer fatigue when carrying out the procedure manually for any length of time. To overcome this, mechanical means have been developed across the world. Although initially this equipment was confined to hospitals because of its bulk, advances in battery technology and design have made it possible in more recent years for it to be carried by ambulances. “Equipping Isle of Wight ambulances with these devices will considerably improve the chances of a successful resuscitation, resulting in patient recovery from an other-wise fatal condition.