Metro Police Departments Receive $6.4 Million for AEDs
The Omaha, Bellevue and Ralston police departments received a share of $6.4 million grant to fund life-saving technology.
The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust awarded the money to those departments and Nebraska Game and Parks facilities with automated external defibrillators.
The grant will fund devices to be put in police cruisers. According to news releases, 56 devices will be placed in Bellevue police vehicles, while Omaha will receive 209. Ralston’s allotment was not immediately specified.
“Seconds count during a cardiac arrest,” Helmsley trustee Walter Panzirer said. “We know in Nebraska, first responders often have great distances to cover. This funding will ensure those who get to the scene before the EMS arrives gives patients a better shot at survival.”
According to studies conducted by the American Heart Association, the likelihood of survival is significantly higher for cardiac-arrest patients when shocked by law enforcement, who are generally first on scene. This is especially true in rural areas.
These AEDs have technology conducive to the highly mobile and challenging environment of a patrol vehicle, and features industry-leading analysis technology that reduces pauses during CPR, thus allowing for improved blood circulation and better odds at survival.
The devises also use Wi-Fi connectivity to send near real-time data, including a patient’s heart rhythm and delivered shocks to incoming emergency services or receiving hospitals.
AEDs previously used by some agencies will be relocated throughout communities increasing the number of AEDs accessible to the public.
To date, the Helmsley Charitable Trust has invested more than $500 million to improve access to qualify healthcare in rural America, with $72 million of that going to Nebraska.
According to the releases, other states the trust has given money to as part of Helmsley’s Rural Healthcare Program are North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, Minnesota, Iowa and Montana.
To learn more about the trust, visit helmsleytrust.org.
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