NEW ULM — Brown County commissioners unanimously approved accepting a free LUCAS CPR device Tuesday for the Brown County Sheriff’s Office.

Brown County Emergency Management Director Shawn Stoermann said the device, valued at more than $30,000; will be used for medical response.

The Lund University Cardiopulmonary Assist System battery-powered device provides mechanical chest compressions to patients in cardiac arrest. It is most often used in emergency medicine as an alternative to CPR (cardio pulmonary resuscitation) because it provides consistent compressions at a fixed rate in difficult transport conditions and eliminates the physical strain on the person performing CPR.

Stoermann said the device is coming to the sheriff’s office through a state lottery program that Brown County Sheriff’s Chief Deputy Jeremy Reed entered.

“The device is about the size of a carry-on (suitcase). It is commonly used by ambulance services, includes two batteries and a charger will be carried in sheriff’s office squad vehicles and provide more effective CPR,” said Stoermann.

He said the sheriff’s office is required to have two staff members attend training set for Thursday, Aug. 28 in the Brown County Law Enforcement Center Training Room.

Stoermann said the machine is expected to be provided to the sheriff’s office at the training session.

Brown County Sheriff Jason Seidl said the devices can be very valuable.

“It’s a great, life-saving device we hope to employ in Brown County. We hope we never have to use it, but we’ll have one more tool to respond to a medical situation,” he said.