By JOYANNA LOVE/ Senior Staff Writer

The Clanton Fire Department has a new tool for responding to health emergencies.

CFD made a presentation about the new Lifepak 15 heart monitor to the Clanton City Council on Oct. 24.

Fire Chief David Driver said the department was able to save about $6,000 off the $30,000 price since it traded in an outdated model and the company was having a sale.

The Lifepak 15 replaced one of the Lifepak 12 units the department was using.

“We have two more we can trade in,” Driver said.

Griffin said the 12 model was initially released in 1997. He said the company will still service the equipment, but cannot replace parts.

“It’s probably about one of the most important pieces of equipment that we can have and we can carry, especially today when the majority of our calls are EMS (Emergency Medical Service) calls,” Matt Griffin of CFD said.

The device shows a patient’s heart rate, the level of oxygen in his or her blood, indicate if CPR is being done correctly and check blood pressure.

However, Griffin said the department prefers checking blood pressure manually.

It is also an automated external defibrillator (AED).

The machine can be used by anyone that as CPR training, not just paramedics.

He explained that when the machine is first turned on, it is in AED mode and supplies an audio cue for how fast CPR should be performed.

“Is it weather resistant?” Councilman Jeffery Price asked.

Griffin answered that it was and was built to military grade specs to withstand being dropped.

“They are well worth the money,” Griffin said.

The department also has a training device that can be used with the Lifepak 15 to simulate different health emergency situations.

In the future, the department hopes to purchase software to allow the device to be plugged in to a computer after a call and access data about how deep CPR chest compressions were during a call, if CPR was stopped, etc.

The department hopes to replace the other two Lifepak 12 units at some point.