Hill County becomes 'cardiac ready'

Hill County is ready to undertake an effort to become "cardiac ready."

That means people who suffer from cardiac arrest will be promptly treated by knowledgeable people with modern equipment and transported quickly to hospitals that can help them.

There will be a chain of treatment that will be better and faster than what area residents get now.

Janet Trethewey, the Havre city councilwoman who runs the statewide program for the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services, said the goal is to vastly increase the number of people who survive a cardiac arrest.

Presently, she said, only about 5 percent of the people who suffer outright cardiac arrest survive, she said. The rate for heart attacks is much higher, she said. Heart attacks involves a blockage of the pathways to the heart, cardiac arrest is a shutdown.

She would like to have half or more survive cardiac arrest.

Trethewey has been organizing the program in southeastern Montana, the most remote area that is most in need for the program. She is now moving on to the Hi-Line.

She will hold a series of community meetings in coming weeks to familiarize people with the program, how it operates and how it can be helpful.

In all parts of Montana, but especially in remote areas, the ride to hospitals for medical treatment after cardiac arrest can be lengthy, she said. The average ride in the state is 20 minutes, she said. But in parts of Hill County it can be far more.

The quicker people get care, the better, she said.

The new program is aimed at getting people the best possible care while they are headed toward hospitals, she said. In rural areas of southeastern Montana, some locations are 60 miles from the closest hospital.

The program included:

Working with community groups to see that automatic external defibrillators are purchased for many public locations around the county. Trethewey said she would like to see them in schools, community halls, senior centers, businesses and other places where people gather. The state will work with groups who are interested in buying the equipment at a discount rate of about $1,100.

Training is not difficult, she said, and can usually be accomplished in a half hour or so.

Dispatchers at all Hi-Line 911 dispatch stations will be trained in how to provide instructions over the phone to people on how to administer CPR.

When someone is at the scene of a cardiac arrest, she said, dispatchers will be able to walk them through the process.

Lucas devices - Physio-Control LUCAS 2 Chest Compression Systems - will be provided for just about every community that has an organized emergency medical technician squad, she said. Statewide, 222 Lucas devices will be provided under a $3.2 million grant from the Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Gift Trust.

The Lucas device, which cost about $11,000 each, provides high-quality compression to help resuscitate victims of cardiac arrest, she said.

By using the devices, medical personnel at Northern Montana Hospital will be able to monitor the patient's condition as treatment is administered at the scene. Simultaneously, officials at Benefis Medical Center in Great Falls will be able to follow the patient's progress.

If Benefis determines there is a need for a life flight, it can dispatch the helicopter to Havre at the very start, saving crucial time.

Trethewey said Montana, because of its rural nature, is at a disadvantage when it comes to providing quick care But with modern technology, a lot can be done to bring care to people who need it.

An important part of the project, she said, is getting people trained in providing CPR.

She would like to have schools offer the training. High school students and some middle-schoolers are physically able to administer the treatment, she said.

In the Bozeman area, she said, more than half of the adult residents are trained in CPR, she said.

When the percentage gets that high, she said, there is a good chance someone who can do CPR will be available when anyone has cardiac arrest, she said.

Trethewey said the programs offers lots of people an opportunity to help save lives.

She encouraged everyone - whether they are in the health field or not - to attend the meetings.

Several meetings have been set along the Hi-Line on the Cardiac Ready Communities Program. They are:

• Rudyard: Monday, Aug. 31, 6 p.m. at Rudyard Senior Center

• Chester, Tuesday, Sept. 1, 8:30 a.m. at the EMS building

• Big Sandy, Tuesday, Sept. 1, 6 p.m. at the fire hall

• Havre, Wednesday, Sept. 9, 1 p.m. at Havre-Hill County Library

• A meeting will be

scheduled later for Rocky Boy.