Hoping for the best but planning for the worst, Statesboro city leaders recently made a decision to purchase and install several pieces of equipment with potential to save lives.
During October, in all city-owned buildings, employees mounted a total of 11 automated external defibrillators in the event personnel or visitors ever suffer sudden cardiac arrest.
The new, Zoll AED Plus machines assist the controller in properly administering CPR and, if needed, can deliver a life-saving jolt of electricity to a downed patient.
Piggy-backing a state contract involving Georgia Southern University — which has acquired 73 AEDs for 53 buildings — the city of Statesboro paid $13,000 for the machines.
“We had thought about defibrillators for a while. When we heard GSU was in the midst of putting them in each of their facilities, I mentioned the idea to (City Manager) Frank Parker and he thought it would be a good idea for us,” said Darren Prather, the city’s purchasing director and safety coordinator. “The public comes into these facilities all of the time. The return on investment with this project is phenomenal — considering, if you save one life in 10 years, you’ve saved something with infinite worth.”
According to Prather, statistics show a quick response, made possible by having the AED devices on-hand, could easily mean the difference in life or death in an emergency scenario.
“We’ve seen stats that show: if someone goes into cardiac arrest and has one of these (defibrillators) on them within the first three minutes, the survival rate is about 90 percent. But if you wait eight to 10 minutes, it drops to 50 percent,” he said.
Machines have been placed in the Statesboro police station, fire stations, City Hall, the wastewater department offices, the public works building, the landfill transfer station, the Averitt Center for the Arts and more.
The company providing the devices conducted a training session with representatives from each city department last month.
“It would be irresponsible for those of us in government to not have these available, for the public and our employees. We have that obligation and that duty. It is one of those things like insurance. You can have it and not need it, and it is fine. But, if you don’t have it, and need it, you’ll have an issue,” City Manager Frank Parker said. “If we only save one life over the next number of years, then the small cost associated with the purchase is nothing. It will be a benefit to our citizens and employees in both peace of mind and in the event we ever need one.”
According to Zoll’s medical products website, the automated AED Plus machines detect a “shockable heart rhythm” to deliver a shock on its own, “with no rescuer interaction” and by the push of a button.
The device also offers audio and visual feedback on CPR techniques.
City officials say they would, eventually, like to have the same machines placed in police cruiser vehicles — ideally with the help of a community sponsors, Parker said.
Said Prather: “Often, police officers are the first ones on the scene, even before the ambulances arrive.”
Jeff Harrison may be reached at (912) 489-9454.