King County Sheriff’s Deputies getting life-saving devices
Announced today by the King County Sheriff’s Office:
In partnership with King County Emergency Medical Services, a division of Public Health – Seattle & King County, 53 Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) are being distributed to 53 King County Sheriff’s Deputies. The deputies can be dispatched to a cardiac arrest call along with emergency medical responders.
Equipped deputies who arrive first to the scene of a cardiac arrest will start resuscitation and deliver the first defibrillator shocks. Once emergency medical responders arrive on the scene, they will take over resuscitation duties.
“Training and equipping Sheriff Deputies with external defibrillators is a great service for all residents in King County and will definitely save lives. Rapid defibrillation can literally snatch the life from the jaws of death,” said Dr. Mickey Eisenberg, the Medical Director for King County Emergency Medical Services.
15 deputies have already been trained and are equipped with AEDs. The remainder of the AEDs will be assigned over the next few months as deputies receive the training. “This is a voluntary initiative and all deputies receiving an AED have expressed their interest in participating in this life-saving program,” said King County Sheriff’s Captain Bryan Howard, who is the Emergency Services Coordinator for the Sheriff’s Office.
Public Health provided the funding for approximately 49 of the AEDs. The EMS levy funding is available for special projects related to training for King County and region-wide municipal workforce and providing AEDs for King County facilities and vehicles.
“Seattle and King County already have the best survival chances for cardiac arrest in the country, thanks to Medic One and CPR/AED training for our residents,” said King County Councilmember Kathy Lambert, who chairs the Security Oversight Committee and advocates for AEDs. “Our Sheriff’s deputies often arrive first at the scene of an emergency, and they are already trained to save lives. These AEDs are important tools to have available in the field so we can get help quickly to where it is needed. Recent placement of AEDs in the King County Courthouse already has saved at least one life, and now we can expand this capability throughout the community.”
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