GRMC approves three new defibrillators for EMS ambulances
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Bobby Hadderton spoke to the Graham District Board of Trustees about the LIFEPAK 15 and the importance of the system in their ambulances. Shelly Walls and Teri Robertson look on as Hadderton talked about the defibrillators. (Leader photo by Madalyn Heimann)
Graham and Young County EMS is getting an upgrade to their 10-year-old defibrillators in their vehicles. The Graham Hospital District Board approved the purchase of three new defibrillators to be used by EMS.
“Each one of our ambulances has a LIFEPAK defibrillator in it,” said Shane Kernell, Graham Regional Medical Center CEO. “A defibrillator is a shocking device, essentially, that someone in a life-threatening heart rhythm can be shocked into a normal rhythm.”
On Jan. 21 the Graham Hospital District Board of Trustees approved the Stryker bid for the LIFEPAK 15 version 4 defibrillators.
The EMS in Graham and Young County have been using LIFEPAK 12 since 2010. This is a version of defibrillator which will no longer be for sale starting Feb. 3 and as of June 30, 2020 parts will no longer be available.
“They (the current defibrillators) are well beyond the life expectancy,” Kernell said. “Above and beyond that is, that they are gonna be beyond the support, (...) we are at the point now that we have to replace those units, all three of them, on our ambulances.”
Kernell asked Graham and Young County EMS Director, Bobby Hadderton, to contact Stryker, who are the manufactures of the LIFEPAK. Along with Stryker, another company was contacted for pricing about a refurbished LIFEPAK.
“Bobby reached out to Stryker first and we received a bid for their LIFEPAK 15 version 4. That’s the latest, greatest, brand new LIFEPAK, that they make,” Kernell said. “For three of those with a one-year warranty and a four-year service plan after the year warranty, it’s $100,134.”
The price for new defibrillators is coming out of the capital budget, so this is a known purchase that was planned out.
The other quote came in at $61,181 from Foremost, but they were version 2 of LIFEPAK 15. These would be refurbished models, Kernell said.
“It is our recommendation, from me to the board, that we go with the LIFEPAK 15 version 4 new units straight from Stryker,” he said. “I think these units will be in service for the next 7 years, at least. The ones we have now have been going for 10 years and we would still probably be using them if they were no longer going to be supported.”
For the full story, see the Saturday, Jan. 25 edition of The Graham Leader.
