More agencies getting life-saving equipment

AEDs, or Automated External Defibrillators, are advanced pieces of equipment that can now analyze cardiac rhythms and automatically deliver electric pulses to stimulate the functions of the heart. With technological advances, AEDs today can be easy to use and can function autonomously, without the aid of a trained professional.

According to Lynn Lanzoni, the K-9 drug dog handler for the Sanders County Sheriff's Office, AEDs can be an important piece of equipment for saving lives. Lanzoni said the national cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) survival rate is about 7%. That means when someone starts CPR, those are the chances of saving that life with CPR alone. Areas that focus on the training of CPR with the aid of AEDs more than double those chances of survival, in some cases raising the chances to over 30%, he stated. Results are particularly favorable, according to Lanzoni, if first aid is administered within the first 10 minutes. "In the 15 minutes it takes the ambulance to get there, someone can be using an AED and it can mean life or death." With this in mind, Lanzoni wondered, "How many AEDs are there around the county?" He also wondered, "How many people actually know how to use one?"

On May 18, Lanzoni held one of two classes that focused on the education and training of AEDs, CPR, Stop the Bleed and Narcan. Lanzoni focused on the Narcan instruction while Thompson Falls Police Department (TFPD) officer Jason Thornton taught the CPR and AED portions. The classes were for Sanders County detention officers, Sanders County Sheriff's Office deputies and Sanders County dispatchers.

Narcan, or Naloxone, is an immediate treatment for a narcotics overdose. This can help save not only the lives of overdosed criminals, but those of civilians who may have accidentally taken too many prescription drugs, Lanzoni said. He gave the example of an elderly person who may take their prescribed amount of medication several times in one day, having forgotten each time that they had already done so. According to Lanzoni, Sanders County first responders have used Narcan at least five times over the last month alone. It works by counteracting the effects of opioids and can be effective within two to eight minutes after being administered, depending on the method of administration. According to Thornton and Lanzoni, several sheriff's deputies and TFPD officers now carry Narcan on duty.

As many first responders know, including Lanzoni and Thornton, one of the biggest issues against saving lives in Sanders County is distance. With the average drive time between towns being over 20 minutes, there is a lot that can go wrong in that amount of time, said Lanzoni. In many places, AEDs are commonplace in large stores and shopping centers, as well as in public spaces. This mitigates the time span a person in trouble may have to go without help. According to both first responders in rural areas, like Sanders County, AEDs are spread thin.

This year the Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust provided a $6 million grant to distribute around 2,200 AEDs to rural law enforcement across Montana. Several of these made it into Sanders County for both local police and the Sanders County Sheriff's Office, specifically in patrol vehicles. Thornton, who is also part of the Thompson Falls Ambulance, says that they are putting in for a grant to replace their old AEDs with new ones. Thornton said that if they do get that grant, they may look for ways to redistribute those older model AEDs into the community.

As for the AEDs currently in the community, besides the ambulances, hospital, and patrol vehicles, they can also be found at the Clark Fork Valley Elks Lodge, several of the schools, and in the courthouse. As far as businesses, there are few, if any that have them. None of the grocery stores have them and even some of the senior centers lack them. Fortunately, all of the places that do have AEDs have personnel trained to use them. According to Thompson Falls Elementary Secretary Diane Hedahl, "I can have one on someone within three minutes, no matter where they are in the school." Even though they can be expensive, Lanzoni said AEDs cannot only save lives but can be a write off for a company. He, and other first responders in the county, believe it would benefit business owners and locals in the community to investigate incorporating AEDs.