New equipment recently purchased by Hatzalah of Metrowest, thanks to a grant from The Healthcare Foundation of New Jersey (HFNJ), will allow volunteers to ensure that cardiac arrest patients have the greatest chance of survival.

“In cardiac emergencies, every second matters, and Lifeline ARM auto-chest compression devices greatly increase the odds of saving a patient’s life so that they can make it to the hospital alive,” said Michael Schmidt, executive director and CEO of HFNJ. “We are proud to award a special one-time grant of $26,911 to purchase of two Lifeline ARM auto-chest compression devices for Hatzalah to provide the best emergency medical care possible for all the residents of Greater MetroWest New Jersey who may call upon Hatzalah during a time of crisis.”

The devices will be placed in Hatzalah’s emergency response vehicles, which have a response time of three minutes and often arrive at the site of an emergency even before the ambulance.

“The Healthcare Foundation of New Jersey plays such a major role in so many organizations throughout our MetroWest community,” said Larry Rein, who helped Hatzalah with their fundraising and connected them to the foundation. “The compression devices that they funded are going to hopefully save lives. It is critical to put these devices into all of our vehicles so that we have the opportunity to save lives on the way to the hospital.”

Historically, when a patient needed CPR, first responders would have to perform manual chest compressions. However, sustaining chest compressions for more than a minute or two can be difficult and taxing on a volunteer. The ARM device performs chest compressions automatically, ensuring that CPR is not interrupted giving a patient the best chance at survival.

“During a cardiac arrest, ‘time is muscle’ and a patient’s chance of survival falls 7-10% for every minute of delay without high-quality, uninterrupted compressions,” according to Shael Sokolowski, chief of Hatzalah of Metrowest. “These life-saving devices improve outcomes through delivery of chest compressions at the optimal depth and rate, at every phase of the emergency, and without concern for EMT fatigue. They can be used while a patient is moved from their home to one of our ambulances, while in transit, and from our ambulance to the hospital ‘code room.’

“This also allows us to increase our expedience to the hospital and focus our attention on delivering breaths and other interventions for our patients,” Sokolowski continued. “These devices are a critical addition to our armamentarium that will give our patients’ the greatest chance to return to their best selves. And, for that, our gratitude to HFNJ is unending.”

Faygie Holt is an award-winning journalist, freelance writer and editor. Her work has appeared in Jewish newspapers around the globe and has been translated into several languages. Most recently, she was the recipient of two Simon Rockower Awards for writing from the American Jewish Press Association. In addition to her journalism, Faygie is the author of several Jewish book series for kids from Menucha Publishers, including “The Achdus Club” and “Layla’s Diaries.”