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Source: San Diego County Fire
August 28, 2025 (Kearny Mesa) — The San Diego County Fire Protection District has upgraded a lifesaving tool to their advanced life support (ALS) ambulances and its jointly operated county helicopters with the deployment of 35 new Zoll AutoPulse NXT Resuscitation Systems.
Funded through the department’s capital replacement budget at a cost of $23,000 per unit, the AutoPulse systems represent a significant investment in providing advanced prehospital care across San Diego County.
The AutoPulse NXT is a state-of-the-art automated chest compression device that offers a significant advantage over manual CPR. While traditional CPR delivers compressions to only a small area of the chest, the AutoPulse provides circumferential chest squeezing. This enables more consistent and effective compressions, thereby improving blood flow and oxygen delivery to the brain during cardiac arrest.
One of the key benefits of the new NXT design is its compact size, making it ideal for use in air ambulances and helicopters. This ensures uninterrupted, high-quality chest compressions during patient transport—an environment where manual CPR is especially difficult.
“Every second matters during cardiac arrest,” said Jakub Jagielinski, Battalion Chief of San Diego County Fire’s Emergency Medical Services. “The AutoPulse NXT gives our firefighters, paramedics, and flight crews a powerful tool to provide the highest standard of care in the field and during transport. This investment ensures that patients in San Diego County have the best possible chance of survival.”
While this new technology strengthens emergency response, officials emphasize that citizen involvement remains critical. Learning CPR and seeking additional training significantly increases the chances of survival for patients who experience cardiac arrest before first responders arrive. CPR, especially if performed immediately, can double or triple a cardiac arrest victim’s chance of survival.
The new devices are now in service across the county, strengthening the emergency medical response system that supports more than 3.3 million residents and visitors.
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