The Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office has purchased 23 automatic external defibrillators with plans to deploy them in all marked supervisory vehicles patrolling Hamilton County.
A 2020 Justice Assistance grant for $29,700 made the purchase possible.
Chief Deputy Austin Garrett developed the initiative as a part of his vision to increase the HCSO’s ability to provide life-saving defibrillation to citizens.
“With any cardiac emergency, time is of the essence to support the patient with CPR and automatic defibrillation. The addition of these AEDs in our supervisory vehicles will provide faster access to critical lifesaving services until advanced medical support from emergency-based services arrive,” Garrett says.
The addition of the 23 AEDs will also allow 911 operators to expand the operational range of their PulsePoint Respond App, which has been in use in Hamilton County since 2018.
The PulsePoint Respond App is free. Once a trained CPR user registers their AED, the app will alert them when an emergency occurs near them where CPR or AED could be utilized.
“With the AEDs being in a patrol vehicle, the availability range of that AED is enhanced to include events that occur in residences,” says 911 Executive Director John Stuermer.
“The sooner an AED is used on a patient with severe cardiac emergencies, the better their chance of survival,” says Dr. Harish Manyam, head of cardiology at Erlanger Heart and Lung Institute.
According to national studies, the survival rate for sudden cardiac arrest is less than 5%, with survival rates decreasing by an estimated 7-10% for every minute before they receive care.
Between 30% to 50% of these patients would survive if AEDs were used within the first five minutes, Manyam says.
“Having these life-saving devices available in more first responder vehicles provides the benefit of an AED being where these cardiac events occur, providing needed care sooner.”
The HCSO purchased the AEDs from ZOLL Medical.
Source: HCSO