The AEDs will replace units that are more than a decade old.
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The Fire Department is now equipped with brand-new automated external defibrillators thanks to a federal matching grant.
The department displayed the seven AEDs and a training module on Wednesday that will replace units that are now more than 10 years old. The devices will be accompanied by AMBU, or artificial manual breathing units (bag resuscitators), that have not yet arrived.
"Our grant writer Amalio Jusino did a great job and we were able to purchase seven units, one for each piece of apparatus and we'll save one for the station," Fire Chief Stephen Meranti said. "We take them on every medical call we go on."
The units were purchased for $12,500 through a 2018 Assistance to Firefighters Grant with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security providing $11,904.76 and the city the 5 percent match of $595.24. Meranti thanked Mayor Thomas Bernard for supporting the grant.
Fire Lt. Michael Sherman explained how the Physio-Control LifePaks work. The devices have voice directions and simple images that demonstrate how they are to be used.
"As soon as you open it up, the pads indicate where you are supposed to put these," he said, showing where on an adult the pads are to be placed. "The idea is you want the electrical current to go through the heart. It will read what's going on — the rhythm that the heart's in, the electrical conduction that's going on — and if it's out of rhythm, it will have you stop them. It's that simple."
The device can be set for use with an adult or a child, in contrast to the older models that required using specific pads. The older ones also are voice-activated to older protocols while the new ones are set to current standards. Their software can also be updated to remain current.
"It means we can keep these in service for a longer period," Sherman said.
Jusino, of Emergency Response Consulting and a longtime emergency medical technician, said the newer AEDs also have an educational aspect in being able to see the change in cardiac rhythm.
"It has Bluetooth capabilities so it can notify and send to the responding ambulance the rhythm prior to their arrival," said Jusino. "But on an apparatus, it's not necessary because the responders already there with them."
Sherman said all firefighters are trained on using the AEDs.
"You can't substitute anything for an AED," he said. "When someone drops and it's a cardiac event, they need the electrical current that this is going to provide to reset the heart. You can't do anything else."
Jusino said more than half of cardiac arrests are "shockable rhythm cardiac arrests."
"So the value of these, take your life expectancy from 7 to 10 percent with CPR alone, up to 70-80 percent and, applied within the first minute, near 90 percent," he said. The other value of this ... one of the leading causes of death in the firefighter world is just cardiac arrest. So now they have an AED with the most current technology with them available at all times."
Sherman said communities with great access to AEDs have higher survival rates, pointing to Seattle as an example. According to the Sudden Cardiac Arrest Foundation, residents in King's County, Wash., had a 62 percent survival rate in 2013, significantly higher than most urban areas. This is credited to regional standards in emergency care and first-responders' widespread availability to AEDs.
"We're still a Heart Safe designated community because of the number of AEDs that we have throughout the city," Jusino said. "We're just adding to that platform and the sustainability of it. It's one thing to have that title, but not to maintain that sustainability with new technology ... it would be a failure to the residents. And that's not happening."
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Macksey Updates on Eagle Street Demo and Myriad City Projects
By Tammy DanielsiBerkshires Staff
The back of Moderne Studio in late January. The mayor said the city had begun planning for its removal if the owner could not address the problems.
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The Moderne Studio building is coming down brick by brick on Eagle Street on the city's dime.
Concerns over the failing structure's proximity to its neighbor — just a few feet — means the demolition underway is taking far longer than usual. It's also been delayed somewhat because of recent high winds and weather.
The city had been making plans for the demolition a month ago because of the deterioration of the building, Mayor Jennifer Macksey told the City Council on Tuesday. The project was accelerated after the back of the 150-year-old structure collapsed on March 5.
Initial estimates for demolition had been $190,000 to $210,000 and included asbestos removal. Those concerns have since been set aside after testing and the mayor believes that the demolition will be lower because it is not a hazardous site.
"We also had a lot of contractors who came to look at it for us to not want to touch it because of the proximity to the next building," she said. "Unfortunately time ran out on that property and we did have the building failure.
"And it's an unfortunate situation. I think most of us who have lived here our whole lives and had our pictures taken there and remember being in the window so, you know, we were really hoping the building could be safe."
Macksey said the city had tried working with the owner, who could not find a contractor to demolish the building, "so we found one for him."
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