Grant helps Bend police add 32 defibrilators to patrol cars

Automated external defibrillators, or AEDs, are now part of the emergency response equipment carried in Bend Police vehicles, thanks to a grant from the Helen Lorenz Foundation awarded to the department in July.

The nearly $43,000 in grant funding, handled through the Oregon Community Foundation, has allowed the Bend Police Department to put 32 AEDs into service, providing an integral piece of equipment which will improve service to community of Bend, said Lt. Clint Burleigh.

The AEDs are being installed into the police vehicles and can now be used during patrol operations. Burleigh said a majority of Bend patrol cars now equipped with the devices and the funding should enable the agency to put them in most if not all patrol cars.

In addition to outfitting the vehicles with AEDs, the Bend Police Department, together with the Bend Fire Department, working with Deschutes County 911, have initiated High Performance CPR training to create seamless patient care, starting from arrival of the first public safety responders on an emergency, Burleigh said.

This process has proven to increase survivability of people suffering from cardiac arrest.

Recent statistics from the Bend Fire Department show that with a witnessed cardiac arrest, the person’s heart has a shockable rhythm and inclusion of High Performance CPR there is an increased survivability. With AEDs in the field, shocking the heart can happen more quickly.

Bend survival rate for witnessed cardiac arrest w/ a shockable rhythm:

2012: 20 %

2013: 42.6% Introduce HPCPR and feedback

2014: 50%

In comparison, the national registry shows survival rates nationally were 32.8% in 2014.

“This progressive process and better service to the community of Bend is a direct result of team-work and collaboration between the Bend Fire Department, Bend Police Department and St. Charles Bend,” the lieutenant said.