Published: 12/26/2007 Banks provide funding for portable defibrillators By Katie Farrell Staff writer
AMESBURY - Police officers responding to emergencies have a new tool to help them give lifesaving aid, thanks to two local banks.
"We were starting to see a lot more cases where we arrived on the scene first (before the ambulance)," officer Tom Hanshaw said. One case in particular last spring resonated with police, said Hanshaw, who wondered if a defibrillator would have saved a victim's life. Aware that other departments keep portable cardiac defibrillators in their cruisers, Hanshaw said local police began looking into the possibility. "We're always looking to improve the equipment that we have, the training that we have," Hanshaw said. As budget talks continued last spring, Hanshaw said it became clear to the department, "there was no way we'd get the money from the Municipal Council." So Hanshaw began talking with local banks and asking for sponsors to fund the initiative. The Provident Bank and Newburyport Five Cents Savings Bank each were willing to assist, he said. The two banks jointly paid a total of about $6,000 - or about $3,000 each - for five defibrillators for the department. Bank executives called the equipment important for public safety. "We recognize how essential these defibrillators are to the Amesbury community so it was important to us that The Provident be involved in making it happen," Charlie Cullen, president and chief executive officer, said in a prepared statement. "The Newburyport Five Cents Savings Bank understands how necessary these lifesaving tools are in our community," Richie Eaton, president and chief executive officer, said in a joint statement issued by the two banks. "We are proud to assist in making this important community investment a reality." Hanshaw said the defibrillators arrived last week, and all officers will undergo training recertification for the defibrillators. Like the department's taser guns, the defibrillators will be kept at the station and signed out at the start of each shift by the officers on duty. One defibrillator will be kept in the lobby of the station, Hanshaw said. With the equipment readily available for officers, Hanshaw said, "at least you give somebody a little bit of a chance." Hanshaw said the police will now be able to have a defibrillator on hand at community events - like the annual Woodsom Farm Festival. Each defibrillator is no larger than a woman's purse, he said.
"They are pretty easy to carry," he said. Defibrillators are becoming a more common sight at public locations, Hanshaw said, noting that he's seen them in health clubs and at all of the schools. "They're starting to pop up all over the place," Hanshaw said. He added that Newburyport Five Cents Savings Bank has said it is going to look into the possibility of adding a portable defibrillator at each of its branches. Defibrillators are computerized devices that check a person's heart rhythm. If it can't find a pulse and detects heart failure, it will give voice prompts or written commands to instruct a rescuer how to use it to give the victim a shock.
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