Nordic Ambulance members from left, Katie Dixon, emergency medical technician; Tammy Wagner, medical first responder; Jackie Schemmel, emergency medical technician; Amanda Viane, emergency medical services driver; Dayton Casey, emergency medical services driver; and Lisa Casey, emergency medical technician, show the LUCAS device purchased for the ambulance.

FELCH — The Nordic Ambulance last year purchased an automatic compression arm LUCAS device — an easy-to-use mechanical chest compression system that helps emergency service personnel and other lifesaving teams deliver high-quality, guidelines-consistent chest compressions to sudden cardiac arrest patients. Such equipment can be used in the field, on the move and in the hospital.

“The remote location of our service area was a major factor to acquiring this type of equipment,” said Lisa Casey, a Nordic Ambulance emergency medical technician.

In August 2019, she and other ambulance members presented to the Tri-Township Ambulance Authority board the benefits of a compression arm in the EMS field.

During the next 15 months, Casey worked to obtain funding for the compression arm. She set up returnable bottle/can drop-offs within the three townships they serve — West Branch, Breen and Felch — and $2,000 was raised.

Local businesses — Anderson Nordic Grocery, Da Hardwood Store, LaBranche Tavern, LC’s Tavern, and Solbergs — along with Bink’s Coca Cola in Iron Mountain and WP Beverages (Pepsi) of Hermansville, provided bulk returns during the $25 limit restrictions. The fundraiser ran for three months.

In addition, they received a $2,500 Superior Health Foundation grant and $2,000 We Energies grant that also aided in funding. They raised a total of $6,500 and the TTAA Board then voted to purchase and provide additional funds for the LUCAS device.

In November 2020 they purchased and received a LUCAS 3.1 device.