Cass County among first in U.S. to adopt groundbreaking system for cardiac arres

Every day, sudden cardiac arrest (SCA), the leading cause of death in the United States, takes the lives of more than 1,000 men and women. Current survival rates are dismal, with fewer than 10 percent of patients surviving out-of-hospital cardiac arrest in most communities. In Cass County, the odds for survival may get better very soon.

On Saturday, Aug. 15, emergency medical technicians from across Cass County will begin training with the ZOLL ResQCPRTM System from ZOLL Medical Corporation.

The training will take place from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Cass County Emergency Management Office, 8400 144th St., Weeping Water, Neb.

Cass County and its respective EMS agencies are among the first emergency medical service systems in the United States to adopt this new medical device that was shown in a study to improve one-year survival from out-of-hospital non-traumatic cardiac arrest by 49 percent as compared to treatment with conventional cardiopulmonary resuscitation. 

“Cass County Emergency Management and the Cass County Board of Commissioners are dedicated to the citizens of Cass County, and our adoption of ZOLL’s ResQCPR System is a big step toward improving the odds of surviving of cardiac arrest in our community,” said Eric Ernest, M.D., medical director for Cass County Emergency Management Agency and assistant professor of emergency medicine at the University of Nebraska Medical Center.

The ResQCPR System, which was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in March of this year, is the first and only device indicated to improve the likelihood of survival in adults who have suffered sudden cardiac arrest

The ResQCPR System is a combination of two medical devices used together during CPR: the ResQPUMP® ACD-CPR Device and the ResQPOD® ITD 16.  The ResQPUMP is a hand-held pumping device with a suction cup that is placed on the chest during CPR to perform active compression decompression CPR.  The ResQPOD ITD 16 is an impedance threshold device that prevents the influx of unnecessary air through the open airway during CPR. These devices together create an enhanced vacuum in the chest to improve blood flow to vital organs during states of low blood flow such as cardiac arrest.

The ResQCPR System non-invasively improves circulation to vital organs without the use of pharmaceutical or other agents during CPR by enhancing the negative pressure or vacuum in the chest, also known as intrathoracic pressure regulation therapy.

Cass County Emergency Management anticipates the ResQCPR System to be in use throughout the county later this summer.

About ZOLL Medical Corporation

ZOLL Medical Corporation, an Asahi Kasei Group company, develops and markets medical devices and software solutions that help advance emergency care and save lives, while increasing clinical and operational efficiencies. With products for defibrillation and monitoring, circulation and CPR feedback, data management, therapeutic temperature management, and ventilation, ZOLL provides a comprehensive set of technologies that help clinicians, EMS and fire professionals, and lay rescuers treat victims needing resuscitation and acute critical care. For more information, visit www.zoll.com

Copyright © 2015 ZOLL Medical Corporation. All rights reserved. ResQCPR, ResQPOD, ResQPUMP, and ZOLL are trademarks or registered trademarks of ZOLL Medical Corporation or its affiliates in the United States and/or other countries. Asahi Kasei is a registered trademark of Asahi Kasei Corporation. All product names are the property of their respective owners.

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