Remember the Thumper? The HLR?

I remember using the Heart Lung Resuscitator (HLR) and Thumper mechanical CPR devices, so I viewed this entry in the Medgadget blog with interest...

GruntDoc was waxing nostalgic about these devices recently, but it appears CPR machines are still in demand... in the UK. The Daily Mail reports on a new device, made by Lucas:

It can be used on the ground, in a bed or on a stretcher in the ambulance while it is moving. The 6,000 Sterling Pound device - known as the LUCAS CPR system - is powered by compressed oxygen or air and can keep going as long as is necessary.

Professor Douglas Chamberlain, who works in resuscitation medicine at Cardiff University, said there were some "remarkable cases" in which the machine had "very likely" saved lives.

He said: "In these cases resuscitation attempts have continued for over an hour and the patient was dependent on the LUCAS for any sort of blood flow while coronary arteries were unblocked.

"It's extremely unlikely that manual compression could have been kept up for so long, or during transportation in an ambulance and into the hospital.

"Manual CPR is not easy. It's often done too slowly or too quickly. When delivered with the right level of force, it can injure the rescuer."