Use this search box to find articles that have run in our newspapers over the last several years.

Donation will save lives

By G. Michael Dobbs

Managing Editor



CHICOPEE The Chicopee Fire Department has a new tool to help save lives the Zoll Auto Pulse.

City officials accepted the donation of the cardiac support pump on Wednesday. The Auto Pulse performs the heart massage part of CPR allowing an emergency medical technician (EMT) to concentrate on other aspects of patient care while en route to the hospital.

The Auto Pulse consists of a plastic board with two straps. A patient is placed on the board and the straps form a belt over the patient's chest. When the EMT activates the Auto Pulse, it automatically calculates the size of the patient and begins massaging the patient's heart.

Fire Chief Stephen Burkott said he was "thrilled" at receiving one of the devices that sells for $14,000 and said he would be looking for ways to purchase another Auto Pulse for the city's second ambulance.

Burkott said that first all of the city's EMTs would be trained in the use of the Auto Pulse and then all of the other fire fighters.

"It's a life saver," Burkott said.

The Auto Pulse is manufactured in Chicopee by Dielectrics, a company that has been in the city 52 years. John Kusler, the company chief operating officer, explained the firm began manufacturing the devices three years ago. He said company officials wanted to make sure Chicopee had one of the devices.

Adam Epstein, the vice president of medical sales and product development for Dielectrics, said the company hopes to see the device in all public spaces, not unlike defibrillators that have become more and more common.