Lighthouse Community Designation
We're lighting the way to save lives
Excellent emergency response to sudden cardiac arrest has earned Louisville recognition as a Resuscitation Academy Lighthouse Community.
Louisville is one of 11 Lighthouse Communities across the country and the first in the mountain region, which includes Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, Montana, North Dakota and South Dakota.
The nationally recognized Seattle-based Resuscitation Academy works with emergency medical service providers and leaders, as well as dispatchers, police officers and elected officials, to help communities strengthen their cardiac arrest survival rates. Lighthouses are “all-star” communities when it comes to resuscitation. They serve as mentors and resources to others and create positive change in cardiac arrest response.
This recognition establishes the Louisville Fire Protection District as a resource for other communities wanting to improve their cardiac arrest survival rates. Louisville Fire collaborates with the Louisville Police Department and Boulder County Communications to connect all links in the cardiac arrest chain of survival.
The following things are required to be selected as a Lighthouse Community:
- Completing frequent high-performance CPR and telecommunicator-CPR training
- Providing regular and non-punitive feedback to first responders
- Entering cardiac arrest data into a registry
- Dedication to continual improvement
- Publicly sharing performance measures
- Committing to help other communities improve.
To earn the Lighthouse designation, Lighthouse Communities must embody the 10 steps promoted by the Resuscitation Academy.
The Resuscitation Academy 10 Steps to Improve Cardiac Arrest Survival
#1: Establish a cardiac arrest registry
How can we measure improvement if we’re not tracking results? This is the foundation for improving survival.
#2: Implement telephone CPR with ongoing training and quality improvement
Having protocols is one thing. Using them is completely different. A center whose culture supports dispatchers to confidently offer T-CPR instructions is primed to save lives.
#3: Implement high-performance CPR with ongoing training and quality improvement
High-performance CPR is a measurable skill, which can be achieved with the right training and review processes. The better the CPR, the better your patient’s chances.
#4: Implement rapid dispatch
Survival rates fall about 10% for every minute CPR and defibrillation are delayed. Thus, rapid dispatch can boost rates by 5-10%.
#5: Record all attempted resuscitations
Recordings help you accurately reconstruct events as they occurred, piecing together the sequence and timing of events and helping to determine the reason behind any delays. Most current defibrillators allow the metrics of CPR to be automatically recorded, and digital voice recording is also available for most models. The key for any digital record of resuscitation is that it be used solely for feedback and quality improvement.
#6: Begin a program in police defibrillation
The more people trained to perform CPR and use an AED, the greater the effect. Some communities that have embraced police defibrillation have seen improvements in patient survival rates.
#7: Use smart technologies to extend CPR and AED use
Placing AEDs in public locations — think health clubs, community and senior centers, shopping malls and airports — increases the potential to save more lives. One means to insure a response is through smartphone apps and location technology (both to activate volunteer CPR responders and to locate AEDs).
#8: Mandatory CPR and AED training in schools and communities
Over half of U.S. states require CPR/AED training in high schools; many public agencies also require CPR and AED awareness. The more people trained, the higher the likelihood that lifesaving interventions can occur prior to the arrival of EMS personnel.
#9: Strive for accountability
Accountability means transparency of performance to the public, to elected officials, to leadership, and to all the EMS personnel within an organization. Particularly useful is to compare performance with peer agencies.
#10: Work toward a culture of excellence
This may be the most challenging action of all. To support a culture steeped in excellence, leaders must agree on a vision and standard of care, and provide the necessary training and continuing education to ensure ongoing quality improvement. When motivated individuals work together for change, there’s no limit to their potential.