Medic 94 last week debuted a new cardiac monitor and defib device that can perform tasks barely imagined just a decade ago. They intend to buy four of these machines with proceeds of a $180,000 capital campaign.

Medic 94 is the Southern Chester County Emergency Service that provides advanced life support to calls of heart attacks and life-threatening accidents and sudden illnesses in southern Chester County. It is an emergency room on wheels that aids in about 40 percent of ambulance calls.

At a press conference in the Jennersville headquarters of Medic 94 on May 19, CEO Bob Hotchkiss said the just-announced campaign will fund the replacement of the current devices that are 14 years old and failing. These devices accompany the Medic 94 team to every call.

“They have reached the end of life. All four are no longer able to be factory-served, get software updates, and do not meet new mandates from the Pennsylvania Department of Health,” he said

On a table beside him sat a new Tempus ALS-plus-sidekick defib machine adjacent to one of the older, bulkier machines that is currently in use. The contrast was striking.

He said his crew members saw the new model demonstrated at a recent training convention and recommended that it be adopted for Medic 94.

He called upon paramedic John Ryan to explain the details.

Ryan, holding up the new 6-pound monitor said, “I’m very excited about this. It’s not just a new toy; it’s a crucial tool. It allows me as a pre-hospital professional to better serve the residents of Chester County – many of them my friends and neighbors.”

Ryan described the Tempus ALS telemetry device as a camera, a printer, electrocardiogram and de-fib machine all in one package. It can immediately take a patient’s blood pressure, blood oxygen, carbon monoxide, temperature and transfer the information to the hospital and doctors before that patient even arrives. Medics can use video laryngoscopes to improve intubation success, and the monitor can also access medical records to be shared between Medic 94 and the hospital.

Ryan pointed to a striking comparison between the old-style defibrillator machines sitting in the corner and the new one that is part of the Tempus ALS kit. The old defib is heavy and the size of a large suitcase packed for a long trip. The new one is four pounds and can deliver 300 defib jolts on a charged battery.

Ryan pointed out that the new cardiac monitor device is 11 pounds less than the old monitors and easier to manipulate around the patient’s body.

Hotchkiss spoke with pride of the effectiveness of the Medic 94 team, saying that they have saved 19 percent of the cardiac arrest patients that they were called to attend. That means the patients following the defib and hospitalization was able to walk out of the hospital on their own.

Nineteen percent is twice the rate of saving than overall in Pennsylvania, he said.

Hotchkiss said he aims with this device to even increase Medic 94’s successes, and because of Tempus’ design, its functions can be added to with new apps on the future.

The goal of the current capital campaign, $180,000, will cover the cost of four devices which sell at $45,000 each.

Representing the West Grove Fire Company and the Medic 94 Board, Bill Wohl spoke of the economy of the coming purchases. He said they will be in use until 2035 and serve a projected 45, 000 patients. That he said comes out to $4 per call, he said.

Of the capital campaign, Medic 94 Board of Directors Chairman Harold Walls said, “We’d ask everyone to consider a donation – no matter how large or small – to support this necessary investment which will serve southern Chester County for years to come.”