All 59 vehicles owned by the York-Poquoson Sheriff’s Office will soon be equipped with automated external defibrillators, or AEDs.
The Cardiac Science Powerheart G5 AEDs are used to shock people suffering from cardiac arrest, jumpstarting their heart and getting blood and oxygen circulating through their body again.
Cardiac Science introduced the Powerheart G5 earlier this year, making it the first AED to offer “a combination of automatic shock delivery, variable escalating energy and rapid shock times” according to a recent press release from the sheriff’s office.
The appeal of the new model is that it is reasonably easy for even the uninitiated to use, should the need arise.
“You never know when or where someone is going to need this life-saving device,” said Sheriff J.D. “Danny” Diggs. “Our Uniform Patrol Division is out on the road, and very often our field deputies are the first responders to the report of a cardiac arrest incident.”
The new machines have bilingual capabilities. That, in addition to the fact that they are tough enough to withstand heavy use and light enough to be easily portable, makes the Powerheart G5’s a natural choice for the sheriff’s office, said Al Ford, the Cardiac Science general manager and senior vice president of sales and marketing.
Diggs echoed the importance of these advantages, citing the user-friendliness, performance life and Spanish capabilities as the key factors that informed the decision to go with the Powerheart G5 when upgrading the old and out-of-date AED’s that the department currently has.
The new equipment has an eight-year warranty and a four-year performance guarantee.
