LUCAS Devices Expected ‘Any Day’

Two new mechanical CPR devices are on order, and Ada Kirven expects them to arrive any day now at Sheridan Memorial Hospital.

Kirven, who’s director of donor relations for the Sheridan Memorial Hospital Foundation, said the LUCAS devices have been acquired through a grant from the Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust.

Kirven said that would be in event of a surge of COVID-19 patients, and hospital personnel are hoping Sheridan Memorial will be fully prepared if and when that time comes. As of Wednesday afternoon, the 12 people previously confirmed with the disease had recovered, and there were no new patients, no hospitalizations and no deaths in Sheridan County.

But county and state officials are expecting the virus to peak around May 1.

The LUCAS devices expected here are among several hundred the Helmsley Trust is providing for hospitals in five states through a $4.7 million grant.

Kirven said the two devices that Sheridan Memorial will receive will be kept close to the emergency department and the intensive care unit where the hospital will care for the sickest patients. She said once the devices arrive, they will be ready for use immediately.

Research has shown cardiac damage in as many as one in five COVID-19 patients, which can lead to heart failure and death even among those who show no signs of respiratory distress.

The LUCAS devices are designed to provide a measure of separation between the COVID-19 patient and the healthcare workers, so that the healthcare workers are protected from exposure to the virus while they treat the patient.

After the pandemic is over, the equipment will stay with Sheridan Memorial and the other hospitals that receive the devices as part of the hospitals’ system of cardiac care.