Fire district increases its lifesaving arsenal

By Elise Franco

CANFIELD — The Cardinal Joint Fire District is one of the first departments in the state to purchase time-saving, progressive equipment.

Emergency Medical Service director Robert Tieche Jr. said the department recently purchased two Glide-Scope Ranger video intubators and two EZ-IO intraosseous drills.

Dr. George Ellis, medical director for the department, said the equipment makes life much easier for EMS workers.

“The GlideScope is a lighted fiber-optic scope ... The EZ-IO lets you get IVs in kids and adults who you can’t normally get it into as quickly,” he said. “It’s just one pop and it’s done.”

Tieche said the drills allow EMTs to inject intravenous fluids directly into the bone marrow instead of having to search for a vein.

“This drill is the first to allow us to gain access on critical patients,” he said. “These are patients who we may not be able to get an IV into.”

Each drill costs $1,000, and Tieche said a thin needle attached to the end is what allows paramedics and emergency medical technicians to treat patients who might otherwise have to wait for a doctor.

“It’s a matter of life and death,” he said. “Average insertion time is 10 seconds, which is even quicker than a standard IV.”

Tieche said the needle can be inserted just below the knee or behind the shoulder.

He said the drill has been in service for several weeks and has been used twice.

“In one patient, it absolutely did make a difference,” he said. “For the other, there really wasn’t anything we could have done.”

Tieche said the GlideScope, which cost $9,300, has been in service for a week and will help EMTs intubate more efficiently.

“The video intubation system allows paramedics to be 100 percent confident that they can pass the tube into the trachea,” he said. The tool uses a high-resolution screen, giving its operator a less-limited view, Tieche said.

“A regular intubation could take between five and 25 seconds,” he said. “This is even faster.”

Dr. Ellis said these two pieces of equipment are frequently used in hospitals.

“I work in the ER at St. Elizabeth’s, and we use this stuff all the time,” he said. “To have it available in the community is a great thing.”

Tieche said the department is the first in the Mahoning Valley to use the drill and the first in the state to use to camera, which has been tested in the field by soldiers in Iraq.

“These pieces are able to stand up under harsh conditions,” he said. “They’re used and tested in the military, and what better place to test it than there.”

Of the four pieces of equipment, three were paid for through the department’s general fund. The fourth piece, a drill, was bought through an Ohio Firefighters grant program.

“These pieces make a difference,” he said. “We’ve always been fortunate to have a fairly strong tax base to provide this type of equipment.”

efranco@vindy.com