Did you know that Sudden Cardiac Arrest/Heart Attacks are the second leading cause of death for Police Officers (deaths not caused by another person)? While more and more agencies are recognizing the importance of implementing AEDs within their Departments, we are still a long way from protecting the men and women that spend their days protecting us.
Many agencies initially make the decision to implement AEDs within their jail areas in case of a medical emergency of a detained individual. These same agencies may also have one or two in public access areas such as a front counter area, lobby, visitation room, etc. While others will make AEDs a mandatory piece of equipment which is carried in key patrol vehicles such as a Sergeants’ or Corporal’s car or in all cars during any given shift.
The general thinking is still one of protecting the public. Officers in many cases are the first responders to any 911 call; medical or not. Equipping response cars and Officers with these life saving devices as well as assuring that they have been adequately trained, allows them to begin defibrillation versus waiting for Fire/EMS to arrive...resulting in reduced response time and increased survival rates to the victims.
Ensuring that all of our law enforcement agencies across the United States have these devices, not only means increased survival rates to our communities but to our Officers as well. Law enforcement is always thinking and training; “safety first”. Safety should always includes AEDs. Sudden stress caused by various situations they encounter, undiagnosed heart conditions or a developed medical condition can happen to any Officer, any time. In too many cases, an Officer has gone down, and due to lack of equipment they too have had to wait until Fire/EMS arrive on scene.
Reducing risk for our law enforcement agencies should be a high priority. Implementing AED programs, in conjunction with proper training and AED maintenance and ensuring all legal compliance requirements have been met, allows you to reduce your risk and also saves the department money, time and possibly lives.
AEDs increase survival rates and saves lives! Does your police department have AEDs?