By James Peters

New lifesaving tool at RIH thanks to Kamloops Firefighters

Jul 22, 2016 | 11:04 AM

KAMLOOPS — Royal Inland Hospital has a new piece of life-saving equipment, thanks to a generous donation from the Kamloops Fire Fighters Charitable Society.

The Lucas 2 is a robot that can perform chest compressions on a patient.

RIH Foundation CEO Heidi Coleman says it’s actually a better option than having people perform CPR.

“They say that after about 20 minutes of someone doing CPR their effectiveness is reduced because you do get tired, and you are not pushing as hard as you should, or the right way. Having a mechanical arm is the most effective,” explain Coleman.

Coleman says the Lucas 2 will be installed in the hospital’s emergency department, but is mobile.

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She notes the machine cost about $20,000.

“It sort of came to light when we actually had a patient in the ER who was found frozen in the snow, and needed to be given CPR for over four hours. They were running around the hospital seeing medical students, other residents that could continue, because after 30 or 40 minutes, you are exhausted.”