VIDEO - On it's first night in service, firefighters in Port Angeles are crediting a new tool with saving a life. It's a video laryngoscope that was a big investment for the small fire department in Clallam County.
Chief Sam Phillips runs Fire District Two in Clallam County.
"We have 40 volunteers and three career firefighters/paramedics," said Phillips. "We've got the greatest personnel around. They're very dedicated to serving the community."
So when one of his firefighters asked for a new and rather expensive medical device to help do their jobs, Phillips said he had to look past the pricetag. The video laryngoscope that firefighter was requesting cost about $1400, a lot of money for a department on a tight budget.
Yet Phillips says it didn't take long for the new tool to prove it's value.
On Monday night, after two weeks of training using the video laryngoscope on a mannequin, firefighter Margie Bowlby put the device into service. She used it to establish an airway, as they tried to save an unresponsive patient inside his home, and says it worked perfectly.
"It was just fascinating to me, I think one of the hardest skills we have to perform is intubation," said Bowlby. "It's literally night and day difference. So you're looking into a dark hole with a tiny light, or you're looking into this high definition screen with a bright huge light and opening."