The agencies have been using the new drugs for about a week. Lee County EMS and the fire departments of Lehigh Acres, Fort Myers Beach, South Trail, San Carlos Park, Estero and Bonita Springs all recently began using the Universal International Advanced Cardiac Life Support Algorithm for providing care for patients in cardiac arrest. The algorithm, promulgated by the International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation, calls for the use of Vasopressin or Amiodarine as one of the steps in treating a patient. Both medicines replace the more traditional Epinephrine therapy and evidence suggests the new treatment could increase survival rates from 35 percent to 70 percent upon hospital admission and from 15 percent to 40 percent upon discharge. Cardiac arrest, where the heart and breathing stop, strikes approximately 350,000 Americans annually.
Lee County has such a program in place.