Sioux County, Iowa — If you are in Sioux County and go into cardiac arrest, your chances of survival just got better.
The Sioux County Sheriff’s Office has received 12 Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) through a cooperative grant made available through the 3A Emergency Preparedness Coalition. Sioux County Chief Deputy Nate Huizenga explains.
Huizenga says since Sioux County Deputies are often the first to arrive at a call, there was a gap in the availability of AEDs.
He says now that gap has been filled, since all twelve of his agency’s patrol deputies now have an AED in their patrol vehicle.
Huizenga says there have been several times during his career when he has wished that an AED was available.
Sioux County deputies are trained in the use of the AEDs, along with their CPR recertification training every two years.
Pictured above (left to right): Deb VanderPlas of Community Health Partners of Sioux County, Gayle Vaandrager of Hegg Health Center in Rock Valley, Barb Vermeer of Sioux Center Health, Lisa Schouten of Orange City Area Health System, Sioux County Chief Deputy Nate Huizenga, and Chris Mueller of Hawarden Regional Healthcare
