St. Lucie County, Fla. (CBS12) \u2014 Deputies in St. Lucie County now have a new life-saving tool with them on patrol: automated external defibrillators, better known as AEDs.<\/p>\n
The Sheriff\u2019s Office recently added nearly 90 of the devices to patrol cars and school resource deputies, with a goal of eventually outfitting every deputy countywide. The move aims to give deputies the ability to begin critical care during a cardiac emergency, often before fire rescue arrives.<\/p>\n
Sheriff Richard Del Toro says the decision came after recognizing how frequently deputies arrive first to medical calls.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe faster you can implement the use of an AED, the better chance you have for survival when it comes to a cardiac case,\u201d Sheriff Del Toro said. \u201cAnd I just don’t believe you can put a price tag on somebody’s life.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to the Sheriff\u2019s Office, deputies respond to hundreds of cardiac-related calls every year. Because they are already out patrolling neighborhoods around the clock, they often reach people in distress before paramedics can get to the scene.<\/p>\n
Del Toro says having the AED in the front seat allows deputies to act within seconds.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery second counts when it comes to a cardiac issue,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
CBS12 News rode along with Sgt. Michael Favale as he patrolled the county. He says being equipped with the new devices gives deputies more confidence during emergencies.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe get a call where we\u2019re usually the first ones there,\u201d Sgt. Favale said. \u201cWe can respond quickly because we\u2019re ready and equipped, especially now with these new AEDs. It\u2019s so small, so simple.\u201d<\/p>\n
Deputies have also completed training on how to use the devices. But even without it, the AEDs are designed to guide the user through each step in real time.<\/p>\n
\u201cI could pull one off the wall right now, start the machine, and it would give me step-by-step instructions of what to do,\u201d Del Toro said.<\/p>\n
The AEDs include clear voice prompts like, \u201cBegin by exposing the patient\u2019s bare chest. Remove or cut clothing if needed,\u201d instructing deputies exactly what to do during a cardiac arrest.<\/p>\n
While the Sheriff\u2019s Office hopes the devices won\u2019t need to be used often, they say having them on hand could make all the difference in a high-stakes medical emergency.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"St. Lucie County, Fla. (CBS12) \u2014 Deputies in St. Lucie County now have a new life-saving tool with…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":53055,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[171,173,172],"class_list":{"0":"post-53054","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-port-st-lucie","8":"tag-port-st-lucie","9":"tag-port-st-lucie-headlines","10":"tag-port-st-lucie-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53054","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=53054"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53054\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/53055"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53054"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53054"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53054"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}