Princeton rescue squad seeking funds for advanced CPR device

On loan for testing, the AutoPulse has already played a key role in revival of two victims

By: Marjorie Censer
   The Princeton First Aid & Rescue Squad is testing a new piece of equipment that administers cardiopulmonary resuscitation — and has already used it during two rescues.
   Revivant Corp. — the maker of the device "AutoPulse" — is loaning the equipment to PFARS for roughly two months. PFARS has had it for more than a month and will soon have to return it, unless the squad receives the funding to buy the device.
   To use the AutoPulse, rescue workers slide the device under a patient and attach a band across the chest. The device then administers CPR.
   Mark Freda, PFARS president, said the AutoPulse does a better job than an individual could do.
   "There’s a more consistent and better push on the chest cavity," he said. "It’s just more effective."
   The band also distributes the chest compression force over a larger area, reducing the risk of injury caused by CPR, such as broken ribs.
   Some clinical studies have been done by the device’s manufacturer, Mr. Freda said, that show the machine is better able to increase blood circulation, particularly to the patient’s heart and brain.
   He said PFARS has already used the device twice during the testing period, and, in both cases, the patients regained pulses. In one case, a 50-year-old Princeton man was revived after he went into cardiac arrest. He regained a pulse within a minute of PFARS administering the AutoPulse. Because of patient privacy, Mr. Freda said he could not disclose more information about the instances.
   The machine also reduces the fatigue levels of PFARS squad members. Mr. Freda said CPR tires rescuers very quickly. Having a mechanical CPR device eliminates the fatigue and allows squad members to work on other problems.
   "They can be doing something else. You only have so many people available to you," he said. "This makes a huge difference because you’re not fatiguing some members of the crew."
   Mr. Freda said he would like the squad to own the equipment.
   "We’d be ahead of the curve — which is the position we prefer to be in," he said.
   He said a corporation purchased AutoPulse — at a cost of $15,000 — for another New Jersey rescue squad, and PFARS is hopeful that a company or individual will buy it for the squad.
   The 66-year-old squad kicked off its annual fund drive, asking community members to contribute to the financially struggling organization, last month.