Patients in cardiac arrest are set to benefit from brand new technology at Poole Hospital thanks to a grant of £6,000 from Talbot Village Trust.

The hospital’s emergency department (ED) has received a LUCAS machine which provides patients with consistent and high-quality chest compressions for extended periods of time.

Prolonged CPR is often required as a result of drowning, for hypothermic patients in cardiac arrest and when thrombolysis has been given to a pulmonary embolism, all of which can require up to 90 minutes of CPR.

Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) delivered manually for a maximum of two minutes requires a high amount of physical effort to sustain continuous, effective CPR during a prolonged cardiac arrest. After two minutes, a change of staff is required which leads to an interruption in CPR.

Last year there were 90 cardiac arrests in the hospital.

Dr Gary Cumberbatch, clinical director, emergency and urgent care said, “Thank you so much to Talbot Village Trust for this state-of-the-art device, it really is going to make such a difference to our patients.

“It will also take some of that physical pressure off staff meaning that we can provide even better care to the patient who is receiving the treatment.”

Sir Christopher Lees, chairman of Talbot Village Trust, added, “There was an immediate need for Poole Hospital to own this specialist equipment, to continue delivering the exceptional level of care that patients receive at the hospital.”