Police officers are among the first to a medical scene, and having the correct equipment in their car can save a life, New Whiteland Police Chief Joe Rynerson said.
The town recently received a $15,980 grant from the Johnson County Community Foundation and used the money to buy 16 automatic external defibrillators for each of the eight full-time officers who patrol the town, each fire truck and in each municipal building the town owns.
An AED can send an electrical shock to the heart of a patient who has had a cardiac episode.
“There are times when we can bring someone out of it with electric shock before the paramedics arrive,” Rynerson said.
The town previously had one AED that fell into disrepair. Rynerson knew that police officers are often the first people to respond to a scene and that the survival rate of someone who has had a cardiac episode increases with use of the AED.
“We can apply the AED and up the chances that they won’t have brain damage,” he said.
