Grant Aids Ohio Township’s Fire Department CPR Efforts

The Jackson Township Fire Department hosted Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation (BWC) Administrator/CEO Steve Buehrer, who presented a $20,000 Safety Intervention Grant check to Chief Tracy Hogue. The grant will aid in the purchase of cardiac support pumps that will help first responders better perform CPR while protecting them from on-the-job injuries.

The Jackson Township Fire Department protects the 36 square miles that make up the township. Staff work out of five stations and utilize five ambulances to deliver emergency medical care. The department took 5,403 calls for service in 2012, including 3,848 for emergency medical care.

BWC awarded the grant for the purchase of two cardiac support pumps for the township’s ambulances. The pumps perform chest compressions with a band that squeezes a wide area of the chest, spreading out the force of compressions and maximizing blood flow. Caring for a cardiac arrest patient presents an increased risk of muscular skeletal injuries to the EMS provider due to the manual pushing and pulling associated with performing CPR.

Additionally, rescuers must often stand up unrestrained and compress while in route to the hospital. The pumps will help reduce the risk of these injuries related to delivering CPR, as well as those that can occur during loading and unloading, and transporting patients unrestrained in the back of the ambulance.

BWC’s Safety Intervention Grant Program assists Ohio employers in reducing illnesses and injuries and to create a partnership with them to establish best practices for accident and injury prevention. Ohio private and public employers are eligible for safety intervention grants, which include a 3-to-1 matching amount up to a maximum of $40,000. Quarterly data reports and follow-up case studies help BWC determine the effectiveness of employers’ safety interventions and establish best practices. The total amount of available money was recently tripled to $15 million as part of the bureau’s Billion Back plan, which also included $1 billion in rebates and steps to modernize BWC’s billing processes.

Source: Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation