A new piece of life saving kit has been introduced to Musgrove Park Hospital thanks to a kind donation by the hospital's League of Friends.

The new device is a mechanical chest compression system which helps to improve the quality of CPR.

Musgrove's lead resuscitation officer Jennifer Wilkins was keen to acquire the gadget, known as LUCAS, before kind donors stepped in to provide it. She said:

"The LUCAS machine is an automated device that our colleagues can use to perform standardised chest compressions on patients who need resuscitation

“It’s so easy to use and cradles over the patient, so colleagues can carry out this life-saving CPR for longer periods, without becoming tired. We also no longer need to change the person giving the CPR every two minutes as we’ve previously needed to.

“The system is portable so it can essentially be used anywhere within the trust, wherever a patient experiences a cardiac arrest and requires prolonged resuscitation.

“We’ve never had anything like this before at Musgrove, and although we train all our frontline colleagues in CPR, this system guarantees a level of quality of CPR for all patients.

“We’re very grateful to our League of Friends and its donors for giving us the money to buy this equipment – it’s literally a life-saver.”

Peter Renshaw, chairman of the Musgrove Park League of Friends, said: “The League has been supporting the hospital for over 60 years, which would not have been possible without the continued support of the community.

“I’m very pleased that the League has been able to support LUCAS in Musgrove, helping both patients and colleagues.”