Every full-time deputy with the Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department now has the capability to save the lives of heart attack patients.
The $5,180 purchase of four new automated external defibrillator units means all merit deputies will have one of the potentially lifesaving machines in their patrol vehicles.
After receiving county authorization to apply for the grant March 9, the sheriff’s department quickly received approval for its request through the REMC Operation Round-up project.
Deputies receive training on how to use the defibrillators on heart patients until emergency personnel arrive.
Since law enforcement personnel are often the first to arrive at a scene, more lives will be saved by equipping all patrol vehicles with AEDs, sheriff Matt Myers said.
The Operation Round-up program, which has been adopted by several Indiana rural electrical membership cooperatives, raises funds by rounding up each participating member’s bill to the nearest whole dollar.
Those monies are then placed in a fund that will be used to assist community organizations.
On the average, each participating member contributes about $6 per year into this fund.
