WESTFIELD–When someone is in cardiac arrest, calling 911 is the first thing you should do–but then what?
Well, the Westfield Fire Department is hoping to start engaging the public soon, so more people know how to react properly in these stressful situations. However, even though life hangs in the balance in these instances, the department is struggling to increase the awareness for the need of people trained in CPR.
“Right now we don’t have the time or manpower to make a concerted effort,” Capt. Sean Ellis, from Westfield Fire Department, said.
Ellis, who heads the department’s education programming for all firefighters, EMTs and paramedics, wants to increase the education of bystanders on what to do during cardiac arrests, especially CPR, but due to the lack of money and people available, the outreach effort cannot be done to his liking. So, Ellis is hoping that the community will take it upon themselves to seek out education or to help those who need it.
“We know what needs to be done, we know we need some outside funding,” Ellis said. “This only works if it’s a community effort, though.
“If it’s only (the fire department), if it’s only a hospital effort it doesn’t reach its full potential,” he said.
According to Ellis, the department as a whole has done its job to the best of its abilities, investing in new equipment and cutting down response times to incidents, but it now rests on the hands of bystanders in becoming educated and becoming active.
One way Ellis said that bystanders can become active is to download the PulsePoint phone app. The app is part of the nonprofit PulsePoint Foundation and it provides users with notifications if someone is in need of CPR in the area. A user registers themselves as CPR-certified and will be told of the location of the person in need of help, providing them with a location and other providers, if possible.
This app works in conjunction with another app called PulsePoint AED, which is a crowdsourced listing of all automated external defibrillators, or AEDs, in any given area. These devices are used to deliver electrical shocks to the heart in an attempt to resume cardiac activity and are a staple in lifesaving measures during CPR.
However, the app does not have the locations of all AEDs in most cities and towns, including Westfield. Unofficially according to the app, the number of AEDs in Westfield is 12. But Ellis estimates that Westfield has at least 150.
This stark contrast can mean a difference between life-and-death, but for Westfield Fire Department there isn’t much they can do about it. The only information available is what is provided by people using the app and not by the fire department. And while the state mandates that owners of AEDs must register them with a local physician, it says nothing about detailing their locations or updating if they do or do not have the AEDs still. This means that the fire department cannot update the database for fear of liability.
One solution to this is if Westfield signed up for PulsePoint Professional Services, an implementation program headed by the firm.The program will help the department by providing a project manager, as well as community outreach, AED tracking and syncing the program with the department’s computer-aided dispatching system.
However, the cost of the program is $18,000 the first year, followed by $8,000 a year over the next four years, and the department doesn’t have the room in their budget for the program. As it stands they are currently attempting to fill two vacant firefighter positions, as well as replace a fire engine.
So, for now Ellis and the rest of the department is relegated to hoping a bystander who witnesses a cardiac arrest knows CPR, and little else until an ambulance arrives.
Capt. Seth Ellis welcomes anyone reaching out to assist or to learn more about CPR, either for themselves or for others. He can be emailed at [email protected], or by calling (413)572-6301.
