Lincoln EMS above average for CPR saves

The Lincoln Volunteer Ambulance performs well above the national average when giving life-saving CPR.

This year alone, the LVA team has made two CPR saves, meaning patients made it to the hospital with a pulse. Over the past five years, they've had at least nine saves.

The national average cardiac arrest survival rate, also called the Utstein rate, is just 33 percent. LVA President Aaron Birkholz said that he expects the survival rate for patients treated by the Lincoln Volunteer Ambulance is closer to 50 percent.

"I think it's our speed in getting to the scene," Birkholz said. "The data has changed on how CPR is done in just the last couple of years. We do lots of training."

"They started this training in King County with the new CPR protocols. We had the directory of King County EMS come up and give us a training. They've actually upped their saves to a record high," said Birkholz.

King County, which includes Seattle, has one of the highest cardiac arrest survival rates in the country at 56 percent in 2017.

The LVA received a Helmsley Grant which paid for this training and a LUCAS Device. The LUCAS Device is an automated CPR device that does compressions so well that patients will sometimes wake up even though their heart isn't beating on its own.

The grant only paid for one LUCAS Device, so LVA financed a second one for their second ambulance. "It happened twice where we were in the wrong ambulance," said Birkholz. "I want to say they're $27,000. We just made our second payment, so we have three years left."

Birkholz added that CPR training can be really important for the public.

"If the general person can get access to learning hands-on CPR and do it the correct way, that will significantly increase a person's chances of making it until we get there," he said. "911 will try to talk you through doing compressions, but the bad thing about that is people need to know that you need to be pushing hard enough and be consistent and not to stop until EMS stops you. We're finding that people are trying to do CPR, but they're not doing compressions hard enough or deep enough. We know that because if you're doing compressions on an older person, their cartilage will break, and we find that we're the ones breaking the cartilage when we take over."

Birkholz said he expects it's because people don't want to hurt the person, but that compressions need to be two-and-a-half inches deep to be effective.

Another potentially life-saving option located throughout Lincoln are AEDs, or automated external defibrillators. "We have AEDs all around town," said Birkholz. "The ambulance got a grant several years ago. We've got one at the school, the Senior Center, and the Community Hall. The Mountain View Co-op has their own. Helmville just got a Town Pump grant to add three to their community, and Ovando has one."

The Lincoln Library recently installed an AED as well.

Once a person makes it to the hospital, if they're going to have a relapse of their heart stopping, it's usually within the first 90 days.

Birkholz said, "I do know of currently two residents that are still alive in Lincoln from our saves. Not all people we've saved are Lincoln residents. They're either just people passing through or people that were here visiting."