MEDSTAR AWARDS AN AED TO BAY COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE

When someone’s heart suddenly stops beating, every minute without defibrillation and CPR lowers the chance of survival by nearly 10%. When a bystander uses an AED (Automated External Defibrillator) on a person in cardiac arrest,  their likelihood of survival doubles. Medstar recognizes community AED placement as the most important component of increasing cardiac arrest survival throughout its eleven-county service area.

To that end, Medstar donated an AED to the Bay County Sheriff’s Office for use in their Marine Division. Bay County Sheriff Troy Cunningham stated that “We have four patrol boats that are unequipped with AEDs, so this will be used on the water for any rescues. We are looking to have AEDs on all of our equipment that is operating in public.”  He noted that the Marine Division has taken on a greater role since the Coast Guard is no longer patrolling the Saginaw River.

This AED is personal to the Sheriff’s Marine Division as well. Sgt. Don Middleton, a member of the dive team, lost consciousness during a diving operation. His partner, Lt. Ben Latocki, saw that after Middleton resurfaced, he had removed his dive mask and was face-down in the water and unresponsive. Latocki was able to get Middleton to shore, cut his dry suit and apply an AED. Doctors estimated that Middleton was dead for ten minutes from the time his dry suit was removed. He has made a full recovery. He has no deficits and is back on patrol and recently began diving again. He credits the training of his partners and the AED for saving his life.  He too is proud that their patrol boats will be equipped with these lifesaving devices. Lt. Latocki said, “without that AED, we would not have Don Middleton with us today.”

For more on this story: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qqgTMGD2hGg