A Winamac couple’s gift to local emergency responders will help save lives for years to come. Pulaski County EMS Director Bryan Corn says he’ll be able to purchase two automated CPR devices, thanks to the $30,000 the department got from the Henry and Alice Mooi revocable trust.
“CPR is essentially the most important thing in a cardiac arrest,” Corn told the county commissioners Monday. “It doesn’t really matter what drugs we push or anything like that. If we’re not doing effective CPR the entire time, we’re not doing anybody any good. This is a huge step in the right direction for us. This will take care of that. This machine will never get tired.”
He said the devices will also make it easier to administer CPR in confined spaces. “What we were really excited about was when we kind of got through and we were really doing the research, the ability to get not just one but two,” Corn added. “That really helps us because we can at least put one on each 911 truck that we have. So should one truck be in Indianapolis, we still have this device here that we can use.”
Corn said the cost of the two automated CPR devices along with the first year of the service agreement will be about $22,600. That leaves enough leftover money to purchase two new stair chairs. “Basically, what those stair chairs are is, for example, if we have somebody upstairs in the courthouse, the commissioners room, for example, it may not be very easy to get a cot all the way up there. But we have a chair,” he explained. “As long as they fit the criteria for using that chair, we can secure them in the chair and bring them down the stairs to where we can get the cot. It’s kind of much safer for everybody that way.”
Corn explained that unlike the department’s current stair chairs, the new ones will be able to slide down the stairs, reducing the risk of EMS staff getting injured while lifting patients. The two new chairs will cost $5,800, including a one-year parts and labor warranty.
The commissioners unanimously agreed to let Corn proceed with the purchases.
