Following new information given to Michael Fabricant, he has condemned
the decision to remove ResQPOD equipment from Staffordshire Ambulances
and says that new information puts the lie to claims that they have been
removed on clinical grounds. "This political decision has nothing to do
with clinical considerations and is becoming a national disgrace.

"Having had discussions with clinicians, ambulance workers, and Advanced
Circulatory Systems – the makers of ResQPOD in Minneapolis in the US – I
now know that claims made by the new managers of the Staffordshire
Ambulance Service that there are clinical doubts about the effectiveness
of ResQPOD is patent nonsense", Michael Fabricant says. "ResQPOD is an
effective way of saving lives of those who have suffered a severe heart
attack and the unit is in wide use with ambulance services in the United
States and Ambulance Services in France, Germany, and Scandinavia.
There are no doubts there that ResQPOD saves lives. And Roger Thayne,
former head of the Staffordshire Ambulance Service, is correct in saying
it saves the lives of around 20 heart attack victims a year in our
county who would otherwise have died. It’s clear that ResQPOD’s forced
removal from Staffordshire Ambulances has all to do with the take-over
of the Staffordshire Ambulance Service by Birmingham.

"There has long been a postcode lottery in medical care, but up until
now, we have been the winners – at least as far as our Ambulance
Services are concerned. Now, the removal of the ResQPODs from
Staffordshire ambulances has reduced the service to the same standard as
those in the West Midlands where you are four and a half times more
likely to die from a heart attack than in Staffordshire.

"Whoever has made the decision to remove ResQPOD should be ashamed of
themselves. I just hope they don’t have a heart attack and in their
last dying moments realise that if only they had access to the equipment
they removed, their life could have been saved."

Michael Fabricant has now spoken at length to clinicians using ResQPOD
and to Dr Keith Lurie MD, Professor of Internal and Emergency Medicine
at the University Medical School of Minnesota in the United States. He
is also the Chief Medical Officer for the company that makes ResQPOD.

Dr Lurie tells Michael Fabricant "Some of the major Ambulance services
using the ResQPOD in the US include: Boston Massachusetts, Hartford
Connecticut, Long Island, Miami Beach Florida, and counties surrounding
San Francisco and Seattle. Cities in Germany, France, and Scandinavia
all use the ResQPOD. The German Navy Rescue program widely deploys the
combination of the ResQPOD and a manual version of the LUCAS also used
in Staffordshire. There are 3 cities in Great Britain that have bought
and use the ResQPOD.

"In terms of the number of lives saved, we know that in Staffordshire
the use of the ResQPOD resulted in a 50% increase in the number of
patients who were brought to the hospital alive after an out-of-hospital
cardiac arrest. Similar findings have been reported in numerous other
cities. We estimate that with current manual techniques only 5% of
patients survive an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest as the total blood
flow to the heart and brain are only 10 and 20% of normal, respectively.
Blood pressures average about 45/15 mmHg. With the addition of the
ResQPOD, these numbers double and with the combination of the ResQPOD
and LUCAS, also on Staffordshire Ambulances, these numbers double again.
As such, the blood flow to the heart is about 50% to 70% of normal with
the device combination. Blood pressure with the device combination is
110/55 mmHg. This is a big deal. For every 1 million people there are
around 1000 patients who have a cardiac arrest and get CPR each year.
Only 50 or less survive to hospital discharge with manual techniques
whereas between 150 to 250 survive with the device combination as shown
in several clinical trials which is why these devices are highly
recommended in the first place."