DeKalb Fire Department gets grant for new compression machine

By Northern Star Staff

The DeKalb County Community Foundation has donated more than $13,000 to the DeKalb Fire Department, 700 Pine St. (DFD) to buy a new life saving device.

The foundation’s grant of $13,654 to the department will allow DFD to purchase a new Lucas 2 Chest Compression System, according to a Wednesday news release. The Lucas 2 provides precision and consistency when giving chest compressions at the required 100 compressions per minute, a rate which would tire a CPR provider, according to the release.

The compression system will be the second purchased by the department, as an identical device was purchased by the city last year. The compression system already in use has been used numerous times and has saved DeKalb residents from death on more than one occasion, according to the release.

The DFD will be using the system on board one of their three first response ambulances. The department is looking to find funding for a third Lucas system to use in the last ambulance, according to the release.

Each ambulance responds to a different district, and in the past, the Lucas system had to be driven to the scene by a shift commander and was not readily available, according to the release.