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Lorna Benson
St. Paul, Minn.

Grant to bring automated CPR devices to Minn. hospitals, ambulances

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Hoping to boost survival rates for cardiac arrest, the Minnesota Health Department plans to put chest compression devices in every ambulance and emergency room statewide.

The automated LUCAS 2 machine is portable and delivers consistent chest compressions that increase a patient's chances of survival, the department said Friday.

The device is already widely used in the metro area. In 2013, a man who received automated CPR for 2 hours and 45 minutes in St. Paul was revived and recovered. He is thought to be the world's longest example of successful extended CPR.

During a cardiac arrest a person's heart stops abruptly. Death can occur quickly if the person's normal heart rhythm isn't restored within minutes.

Statewide, the cardiac arrest survival rate is around 14 percent. But the rate tends to be lower in rural areas than the metro.

That's due partly to longer ambulance travel times, Commissioner of Health Ed Ehlinger said.

"We want the chance of survival in rural Minnesota to be the same as in the metro area," he added. "We know that heart disease is one of the leading causes of death in Minnesota and cardiac arrest is one of the pathways to those deaths."

A $4 million grant from the Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust will pay for the 300 automated units.