Ambulance services to debut non-invasive breathing device

By Scott Stafford, Berkshire Eagle
Article Launched: 05/20/2008 10:18:12 AM EDT



Tuesday, May 20
WILLIAMSTOWN -- Starting today, victims of congestive heart failure and some lung ailments, such as emphysema, could be breathing easier once they're in the ambulance.
A new device known as Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) will make the conventional treatment -- a breathing tube down the throat into the lungs -- largely unnecessary. It will be used in Williamstown starting today by Village Ambulance, and soon after by North Adams Ambulance and Adams Ambulance, within two weeks.

Northern Berkshire County is the first to implement this system in Berkshire County and Village Ambulance is only one of five ambulance services utilizing this device in Region 1, which consists of Berkshire, Hampden, Hampshire and Franklin counties.

Paramedics and physicians are anticipating better results and fewer hospital stays as a result.

"Based on studies and patient outcomes, we felt this was a no-brainer," said Shawn P. Godfrey, operations manager and paramedic at Village Ambulance Service in Williamstown.

According to Dr. Robert Sills, an emergency room physician at North Adams Regional Hospital and medical director for pre-hospital treatment, when the blood


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pressure or the heart isn't strong enough, blood flowing through the lungs to collect oxygen is not forced back out again, and can gather there.
Using a face-mask, the CPAP system forces a large volume of oxygen and air into the lungs, opening up the capillaries and forcing fluids back into the circulatory system, dramatically improving breathing for a distressed patient.

Godfrey said two of the three Village Ambulance units will be equipped with a CPAP system.

He added that using the tubes, many patients' bodies become dependent on them, resulting in longer hospital stays to wean them off the tubes slowly. Some bodies become so dependent, the tubes must remain.

But with CPAP, the tubes are not necessary in most cases, thus avoiding the possibility of dependency and the need for longer, or any, hospital stays.

Village Ambulance invested in the system, at a cost of $600 each, out of its operating funds, Godfrey noted.

"If we can avoid putting a tube in their lungs, and keep them from staying in the hospital, then we think it must be worth it," he said. "All the physicians agree this is a great pre-hospital treatment."

The CPAP system has been getting very positive results in a hospital setting, and some ambulance services have been getting similar results in the pre-hospital setting.

"It should really improve the outcome for a lot of patients," Sills said.