Grand Junction Fire Department uses a new tool to save lives

GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (KJCT) - Thanks to a $10,186 grant from the State of Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, the GJFD has now equipped all their ambulances in their fleet with video laryngoscopes.

This device allows first responders to see directly down their patient’s throat on a video screen and into their lungs where it’s suppose to be.

Before this technology, first responders would use a basic laryngoscope and blindly feel that the tube was going in the right spot, relying solely on their experience and training. Now, this new device with a camera and video screen will greatly increase the speed and accuracy of placing this lifesaving breathing tube on the first attempt.

”Crews would use a laryngoscope in the past and it’s a very sturdy, reusable tool that does the same thing,” said Grand Junction Fire Department community outreach specialist Dirk Clingman. “The video laryngoscope has a high resolution screen on it that allows them to see what they’re doing, instead of relying on their experience & training to blindly feel that the tube was going where it needed to go. Now they can just see it & know that it’s going exactly where it’s suppose to.”

The department first started using this technology 5 years ago and it greatly improved the success of the procedure. So now that every ambulance in the fleet has one, the safety and health of the city will benefit.

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