Colo. Firefighters Using 'Resuscitation Choreography' To Save Lives

AURORA, Colo. --

Firefighters and paramedics in Aurora believe their city is one of the safest in the country if you suffer cardiac arrest. The reason? A system they've developed called Resuscitation Choreography. When the Aurora Fire Department responds to a person in cardiac arrest, they employ the tried and true methods of CPR and defibrillation to save the patient's life, but it's done in a manner that maximizes technology and precious time.

"The idea, again, is to sort of cooperatively take ownership of this, for all of us to divide up some of the work so that we can be as efficient as we can possibly be," said Floyd Salazar, paramedic supervisor for the Aurora Fire Department.

The key to the entire process is a portable heart rate monitor and defibrillator with a CPR feedback device, which goes between the rescuer's hands and the patient's chest. It gives the rescuer the precise speed and pressure necessary for effective CPR.

The feedback device also showed that paramedics get fatigued after delivering two minutes of CPR. This led to rotating personnel during a rescue.

In cardiac arrest, the person's heart is no longer beating and they are not breathing; the patient is biologically dead. In 2009, Resuscitation Choreography led to nearly five times as many lives saved than the previous year.

This new approach has also provided a new outlook in these life and death situations.

"We go into these situations and we expect that these people aren't just going to survive but they are going to be able to go home and lead productive lives," said Kevin Waters, EMS manager for the Aurora Fire Department.

Adding to the survival rate, the Aurora Fire Department is also using therapeutic induced hypothermia, which is lowering a person's body temperature to decrease the risk of brain damage after cardiac arrest.