Tempe firefighters respond to more than 300 cardiac arrest calls every year. Now, a major upgrade in technology could help save more lives — and it all comes down to saving time.
Every fire truck and ambulance in Tempe is being equipped with the Stryker LIFEPAK 35, a state-of-the-art heart monitor that gives first responders a real-time, inside look at a patient’s heart activity. Even more critical: it can instantly transmit that data to emergency room staff before the patient even arrives.
Tempe Fire Capt. Jimmy Poole said change doesn’t always come easy in the fire service.
“There’s two things we hate: We hate the way things are, and we hate change,” Poole said. “When we bring new things on, it’s always kind of a big pause.”
That pause is now over. Tempe is the first fire department in the East Valley to fully implement the system citywide. The department secured the new monitors through an eight-year lease that makes full deployment possible.
The city secured 27 units in a single purchase — a first for Tempe — despite budget challenges and the loss of renter tax revenue, Poole said.
“We knew technology was changing, and we knew you eventually have to get on the new monitor system, because the company’s gonna not support the older monitors,” Poole said.
In the case of malfunctions, Poole said Tempe Fire has four training monitors ready to be deployed as backups and a local technician from Stryker available for fixes.
Poole, a 17-year veteran of the department, called the rollout a major leap forward in speed and precision.
“Seconds do matter, and everyone in the EMS world knows that: Time is tissue,” he said. “The longer we wait, the more that tissue is gonna die when it doesn’t have the oxygen and blood supply it needs.”
Every firefighter and paramedic in Tempe completed six-and-a-half hours of hands-on training with the new equipment.
The equipment doesn’t just monitor heart rhythms — it can detect life-threatening cardiac events, like ventricular fibrillation, and alert crews instantly. It also helps guide CPR quality, ensuring patients receive the most effective care possible from the moment help arrives.
Poole said the new monitors will also assist the department in improving the city’s cardiac arrest survival rate. The department said it has an 11.2% survival rate which is above the national average of around 10% set by the American Red Cross.
