PHOTOS: Tempe firefighters respond to more than 300 cardiac arrest calls every year. Now, a major upgrade in technology could help save more lives โ and it all comes down to saving time. Every fire truck and ambulance in Tempe is being equipped with the Stryker LIFEPAK 35, a state-of-the-art heart monitor that gives first responders a real-time, inside look at a patientโs heart activity. Even more critical: it can instantly transmit that data to emergency room staff before the patient even arrives.
Tempe Fire Capt. Jimmy Poole said change doesnโt always come easy in the fire service. โThereโs two things we hate: We hate the way things are, and we hate change,โ Poole said. โWhen we bring new things on, itโs always kind of a big pause.โ That pause is now over. Tempe is the first fire department in the East Valley to fully implement the system citywide. The department secured the new monitors through an eight-year lease that makes full deployment possible.
The city secured 27 units in a single purchase โ a first for Tempe โ despite budget challenges and the loss of renter tax revenue, Poole said. โWe knew technology was changing, and we knew you eventually have to get on the new monitor system, because the companyโs gonna not support the older monitors,โ Poole said. In the case of malfunctions, Poole said Tempe Fire has four training monitors ready to be deployed as backups and a local technician from Stryker available for fixes.
