Supervisors OK Firefighters’ Use of Defibrillators to Restart Hearts

In a move that could save dozens of lives a year, the Ventura County Board of Supervisors authorized Tuesday the use of electric defibrillators by firefighters to restart the hearts of cardiac patients in emergency situations.

The board unanimously approved the training of about 340 firefighters by June 1, when trucks at all 32 county fire stations will be equipped with the electroshock devices.

Officials said studies indicate that more than 40 lives a year may be saved under the new program because firefighters often reach heart-attack victims minutes before ambulances.

“Generally, this adds two to three minutes of survivability time,” county Fire Chief George Lund said.

Tuesday’s vote followed a breakthrough in a dispute between the county and the firefighters union last week when the county agreed to strengthen its legal protections for the emergency workers against lawsuits, Lund and union President Ken Maffei said.

“I think we have acceptance from the firefighters that this is the best way to go,” Lund said. “We probably could have pushed this months ago, but we were not anxious to go back to bid because we knew what their concerns were.”

Maffei said the union had been trying to end the stalemate for almost a year so that the defibrillators could be used, but it was not until last week that the county offered better liability protection to firefighters.

Specifically, firefighters were concerned that their comments preserved by voice-activated recorders on the defibrillators could be used against them, Maffei said. The county said the tapes were needed as a teaching aid and to keep accurate records.

“We have agreed to use them with the recorders because we’re satisfied that the county will stand behind us if we’re sued,” Maffei said.

Supervisors initially approved the purchase of 40 electroshock machines for a total of $225,000 two years ago, but the program was stalled first because of unacceptable bids by equipment companies, then by the labor dispute, Lund said.

Under the program authorized Tuesday, firefighters will begin defibrillator training Monday. An initial six-hour course is required, as is ongoing instruction. Firefighters have asked for a pay increase to reflect the extra skill, but will not insist upon it before starting the program, Maffei said.

The program can literally be expected to save more lives, said Barbara Brodfuehrer, county emergency services director.

Ambulances responded to 410 adults who had heart attacks countywide last year, she said. The survival rate was 3% to 5%, she said, compared with a 10% to 15% survival rate expected after firefighters are equipped with defibrillators. That means that instead of saving a maximum of 21 people a year, as many as 62 may be saved, she said.

“It’s a major step forward,” said Phillipp K. Wessels, director of the county’s Health Care Agency. “It seems to be one of the best things that can be done by firemen. Time is very critical and you get an extra two, three or four minutes.”

Maffei said the defibrillator program is very important because there are 45 fire stations in city and county departments countywide and just 11 ambulance stations. The difference in response time is up to 15 minutes, he said.

But the union president said firefighters should still be trained not only as defibrillator operators but as paramedics.

“Defibrillators are a Band-Aid approach to a problem,” he said. “It’s needed, but it keeps being used as a trade-off for the paramedic program and there is no way it’s going to fill the same needs.”

Without paramedic training, firefighters cannot inject chemicals or fluids into heart attack victims, clear their throats or treat other injured people in a variety of ways, he said.

Addressing that issue, supervisors directed Lund and Wessels to continue to study the issue of whether firefighters should be trained as paramedics--and paid at least 10% more--as they propose.