O’Brien County, Iowa — O’Brien County Deputies will soon have an additional piece of lifesaving equipment available to them right in their patrol cars.
At a press conference held Tuesday morning at the O’Brien County Law Enforcement Center in Primghar, O’Brien County EMA, Public Health, and Sheriff’s officials unveiled the Phillips Heart-Start automatic external defibrillator units that Sheriff Allen Schuknecht says will be deployed in each of his deputy’s patrol vehicles, as well as his own patrol car. In addition, the units will be available to County Park Rangers, as well as one at the Prairie Heritage Center.
O’Brien County EMA Coordinator Jerad Johnson says he believes having these life-savings units in the deputies patrol vehicles will be very beneficial to the county’s residents.
The American Heart Association is now promoting early defibrillation as most effective in saving lives of cardiac arrest patients, and Johnson said it was felt that locating the units in law enforcement vehicles was a good way to get aid to patients faster.
He says the funds to purchase the defibrillators, which cost about $12-hundred each, came through the county’s Public Health Department.
Johnson says the O’Brien County Healthcare Coalition is continually reviewing preparedness, and looking for ways to improve.
Sheriff Shuknecht says the units will be deployed in his department’s vehicles within two weeks, as soon as his officers complete updated CPR training.
