Bossier Parish EMS Gets New Equipment

First responders with the Bossier Parish EMS have just received training on some new equipment they believe is a game changer to help save lives.  

The Stryker LifePak 35 Monitor is the newest equipment for cardiac monitoring or EKG (Electrocardiogram) that emergency medical technicians can use on patients in Bossier Parish.

The LifePak 35 monitor now boasts 15 lead EKGs instead of the 12 lead EKGs its predecessor the LifePak 15 monitor holds.

Marty Turvey, the Director of Bossier Parish EMS, states that the new monitors will assist emergency medical personnel in identifying patients experiencing heart attacks that were previously undetected by older models. “With this device, we have the ability to not only see that tracing and see the EKG as we run it, but we can also live stream with the emergency room physician that’s on duty at the hospital, and they can in turn share that with a cardiologist,” Turvey said.

Turvey says that Bossier is the only parish in northwest Louisiana with the devices and only one of two parishes in the state to use them. The other is Orleans Parish.

Right now, the parish has 6 of the monitors already in service throughout the parish which cost about $60,000 each.