BBR adds defibrillators

Fire Chief Ed Sherrell presented Police Chief Gil Zaccaro with a defibrillator for a police cruiser. Photo by Conrad Weiler

Fire Chief Ed Sherrell has obtained seven Life Pack 500 defibrillators to use at Black Butte Ranch (BBR).

The units can help save lives in the event of a heart attack.

"We've put units in all three police cars on the Ranch and two each at Big Meadow and Glaze Meadow golf course in the marshalls' carts," said Sherrell.

Each defibrillator costs $2,000; the money came from an initial $500 grant from Air Life and donations and contributions by many people after the summer fire that reached BBR.

"We are extremely grateful to all the folks who donated so generously and reached this project goal of providing potential life saving units around the Ranch," said Sherrell.

Emergency personnel use defibrillators to save a person whose heart has stopped beating in a regular rhythm. This fibrillation is part of sudden cardiac arrest and it robs people of pulse, consciousness and breathing. For every minute arrested, chances of survival drop by 10 percent.

Sudden cardiac arrest can strike anyone, anywhere and at any time and is usually caused by ventricular fibrillation.

Each day nearly 1,000 Americans suffer from sudden cardiac arrest -- usually away from a hospital. More that 95 percent of these people die, in many cases, because life-saving defibrillators arrive on the scene too late, if at all.

Fire Lieutenant Justin Waalkes of BBR trains personnel on the Ranch in use of the defibrillators.

"They're pretty easy to operate once you've been instructed in their use," said Waalkes. "We have one unit for training and it goes through the entire procedure except it doesn't deliver a shock."

The defibrillators run on a five-year lithium battery and need very little servicing over that time span.

"These are the same type units now being deployed on commercial airliners," said Waalkes.

BBR Police Chief Gil Zaccaro said his six-man force is receiving instruction in use of the defibrillation units and is ready to act in an emergency.

Besides the seven Life Pack 500s, BBR also has two Life Pack 12 units, one on each Ranch ambulance.

"These are more sophisticated units allowing defibrillation, heart monitoring and telemetry connection with St. Charles Hospital," said Sherrell.

The cost of each unit is $25,000.

The Ranch fire team consists of six career firefighters, nine college students, one volunteer, an administrative assistant and Chief Sherrell.

Besides being fire chief at BBR, Sherrell is also a paramedic.

Chief Sherrell said the new units have not yet been in action.

"We hope that they do not get used but in an emergency we're ready to respond thanks to the generosity of people at BBR," he said.