Lisle-Woodridge FD Touts New Smoke-Inhalation Treatment Kits

The following is a press release from the Lisle-Woodridge Fire District:

On Monday, August 12, 2013, the DuPage Medical Group Charitable Fund of the DuPage Community Foundation presented local fire departments with a $6,000 check to fund the purchase and replacement of Cyanokits used to treat victims suffering from smoke inhalation.

Smoke inhalation is the leading cause of death related to fires according to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA). The local fire departments represented were the Lisle‐Woodridge Fire District, Bolingbrook Fire Department, Naperville Fire Department and the Downers Grove Fire department. Collectively, the four departments represent Mutual Aid Box Alarm (MABAS) Division 16.

EMS Assistant Director Jim Gray with the Bolingbrook Fire Department initiated the implementation of the Cyanokits after researching the effects of Hydrogen Cyanide on the body. Jim Grays research discovered that Cyanokits are the only approved FDA treatment for Cyanide poisoning and have been used in the US since 2007.

With this research in hand, Jim Gray worked with the Illinois Department of Public Health, Edward Hospital Emergency Medical System and the Good Samaritan Hospital Emergency Medical System to obtain approval for use of the antidote. IDPH and the local EMS Systems approved use of the kits.

MABAS Division 16 Fire Departments are the first and the only emergency medical care providers in the State of Illinois to use the antidote. Since the kits have been approved, a victim in severe smoke inhalation was rescued in a residential structure fire and treated with the Cyanokit. Because of this treatment, the victim was later discharged and returned home.

MABAS Division 16 hopes to work with the DuPage Medical Group Charitable Fund in the future to help it meet its goal of giving back to the community and building partnerships throughout DuPage County. 

For more information about the DuPage Medical Group Charitable Fund, please visit www.dmgcharitablefund.org. To learn more about the Fund’s host, The DuPage Community Foundation, please visit www.dcfdn.org.