POLICE ASSOCIATION OF NOVA SCOTIA 37 BRIDGEWATER –– There’s a sense of helplessness that stays with Sgt. John Collyer to this day. His partner, Const. Paul Rogers, was swimming to the bank of the LaHave River in Bridgewater with the lifeless body of an elderly woman as Sgt. Collyer threw him a life ring and hauled them to the embankment. The cold October air hung around them as the drenched pair performed CPR and artificial respiration on the woman. “It seemed like we did it forever, but it was probably about 10 minutes.” Sgt. Collyer knows they did everything within their power to bring the woman back, but she died –– and he feels a sense of failure. “Her heart had stopped at that point and the only thing that would have brought her back would have been a defibrillator. I’m not saying it would have made a difference, but personally I’d have felt a lot better knowing I’d done everything I possibly could.” So it was with a sense of relief that he and fellow officer Const. Trevor Mitchell announced Monday the Bridgewater Police Department is buying portable defibrillators for all its police cars. Only one other department in the Atlantic region –– Miramichi in New Brunswick –– has the machines. Bridgewater Police Chief Brent Crowhurst said police officers are often the first on the scene for any emergency call, particularly given the large rural area Emergency Health Services is responsible for around the town. “It’s common for the police department to show up at the scene of any emergency call, frequently before the ambulance,” he said. The chief said while officers are trained in first aid and CPR, they don’t have the equipment to go the next step. It’s an issue often on the mind of Const. Mitchell, because he is also a paramedic, so he started looking around at portable defibrillators. He opted for the same units the Miramichi department uses –– it saved a man’s life three months after the units were installed. Bridgewater is the first police department in Nova Scotia to have the devices, but it has had inquiries from at least one other police department, and the province is putting on a drive to have defibrillators in public places such as legions and golf clubs. “The idea is, they should be as publicly accessible as fire extinguishers,” Sgt. Collyer said. And Const. Mitchell said they’re simple to use. The small box has three buttons. The top one turns the unit on and the officer puts two electrodes on the patient’s body, one in the upper right area of the chest and the other on the left side below the heart. The machine measures the heart’s electrical rhythm and tells the officer whether a shock is needed. If so, it tells the officer it is charging the unit and to stay clear of the patient. When it is charged, it tells the officer to deliver the shock by pressing an orange button. The digital screen then gives a readout of the patient’s heart and advises whether another shock is needed. Police officers are usually on the scene at most 10 minutes ahead of the paramedics, but Sgt. Collyer said that can mean the difference between brain damage or life and death for some patients. The units cost about $5,000 each, but the real cost is in terms of additional liability insurance and training. Chief Crowhurst said the police department can only go ahead with the program because of the Bridgewater legion, which donated $6,000. President Roger Purnell said it was natural for the legion to support such a project, because so many of its members are over the age of 65 and could benefit from it. “We felt we needed to have one right away.” The first of four will be in operation within a month, Chief Crowhurst said. Officers get help saving lives By Beverly Ware / South Shore Bureau Beverly Ware / South Shore Bureau Bridgewater Police Const. Trevor Mitchell shows Roger Purnell, president of the local legion, how to use portable defibrillator. The life-saving devices will soon be installed in all town police cars. Bridgewater force first in N.S. to get defibrillators in cop cars (April 27, 2004)
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