LEWISTON, Maine — In December, paramedics with United Ambulance Service, which covers Lewiston, Bridgton and other communities started using the 'Lucas Device'.
The device is strapped onto a patient, each compression going about one hundred beats a minute delivering more effective and precise treatment to improve oxygen flow to the brain. Only 8 percent of patients who suffer a cardiac arrest survive. Paramedics say the high tech technology is giving patients a better chance.
It's being called a 'game-changer' in helping improve survival rates for patients suffering from a cardiac arrest.
"We got the device on and it started doing its job. That frees us up that we can work on the airway and drugs and everything else and within eight minutes, he had a pulse back," Michael Blakemore, United Ambulance Service said.
Another benefit improved safety for paramedics who often need to perform chest compressions in the back of a fast-moving ambulance.