FORT WRIGHT, Ky. — It's small. It's new. It could be the difference between life and death.
That's why the City of Fort Wright decided to add one to each of its 13 police cruisers.
The Stryker Lifepak CR2 Automatic External Defibrillator (AED) is used on people experiencing sudden cardiac arrest and analyzes the heart's rhythm and, if necessary, delivers an electrical shock, or defibrillation, to help the heart re-establish an effective rhythm.
"I think it's going to be a great addition to the police department," Chief Ed Butler said.
The travel-size units hit the roads Thursday, after officers underwent required training to use them, Butler said.
"It's pretty powerful to watch to see the training and see how effective these things are and how quickly they can be deployed," he said. "I think it puts the officers at ease to see how — I hate to use the word simple — but how user-friendly these things are and how if you just listen and follow directions, literally within seconds you can have them deployed and operational and you know, see where it leads you."
The AEDs are automatic, meaning once opened and the defibrillation pads are placed on the patient, the system detects whether a shock is needed or just manual CPR. If it's the former, the device will take over control, if it's the latter it will walk the officer through the process.
"It even has a like a metronome with it to give you the count of the CPR so that you stay in rhythm," Butler said.
The fire department went on a shopping trip to help his department take the devices one step further, he said. They bought razors and washcloths to add to an additional kit at the bottom of the pack.
The defibrillation pads stick well to dry, bare skin, but that isn't always the case with patients who may have hairy chests or are soaked in sweat, which happens frequently with those experiencing cardiac arrest.
"If we need to shave a chest or dry somebody off before we apply we just reach right in there and get it," Butler said.
The devices came at a price tag of $76,399.83 but Mayor Dave Hatter said the decision to make the purchase was a long time in the making.
"It's probably been 10 to 12 years since this idea of the defibrillators was brought up, and the fire department already had them, they're occasionally refreshing and replacing this equipment," Hatter said. "So a conversation arose, 'What would it cost, what would it look like to outfit all the police cruisers with these devices?'"
So why now? Hatter said he was finally able to get council to sign off because the city could finally afford it. The cost of the AEDs went down and a combination of leftover pandemic relief funds freed up dollars to move forward with the investment, he said.
The city's fire department already has AEDs in each of its ambulances, police officers are typically the first at the scene of an emergency, which is why equipping them with the devices could further increase patients' survival chances, Hatter said.
"In the event someone has some kind of cardiac arrest, since police are going to be there first, they'd be able to respond to with that life-saving care more quickly than waiting for the ambulance to show up. Even though the ambulance is going to be there on average in less than 5 minutes, the police are usually going to be there in like a minute or two because they're already out there (on the roads)," said Hatter.
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