Monday, Feb. 16, 1998

State College police aquire defibrillators

Two units purchased for borough police will get care to cardiac patients quicker.

By JOEL MYERS
Collegian Staff Writer

Members of the State College Police Department attended a training session Friday to learn about the department's two newly acquired Automatic External Defibrillators (AEDs).

Police officers are often the first emergency personnel to arrive and can provide the most immediate assistance, said Chuck Seighman of Medtronic Inc. With an AED unit and proper CPR certification, they will be able to better aid the patients, Seighman said at the event, which took place at the Best Western State College Inn, 1663 S. Atherton St.

"The bottom line here is that we could save a life"

- Chuck Seighman of Medtronic Inc.

A defibrillator is a device used during cardiac arrest to deliver an electrical shock that interrupts the rapidly beating heart, Seighman said. The heart briefly stops from the jolt and then usually resumes its normal rhythm, he said.

"What we would like to do is try to get our survival rate up by having a much quicker response," Seighman said. "The bottom line is that early defibrillation saves lives."

Because national emergency response times average from 10 to 12 minutes, Seighman said the national survival rate from cardiac-related incidents is about 5 percent.

In the United States, about 350,000 deaths occur annually from heart attacks, Seighman said. If shock can be administered within five or six minutes, the survival rate is about 50 percent, but each minute beyond this holds a 10 percent poorer chance of recovery, he said.

King said the department is the second police agency in Pennsylvania to implement this lifesaving technology. State College police would like to purchase 10 more defibrillators for each of the police cruisers, King said.

"We are not in a position at this point to equip all of the police cruisers with it, and it is very important that every police car has a unit," King said about the defibrillators, which cost $3,100 each.

State College police are looking for contributions from local businesses and individuals, King said. Ferguson and Patton townships also are interested in purchasing AEDs, he added.

Seighman said the cost of the defibrillators is a minimal investment that will benefit the community.

"The bottom line here is that we could save a life," Seighman said.