Police Officers Trained to Run Defibrillators

City police officers have completed the training needed to operate automated external defibrillators, machines that deliver electric shocks to the heart, and can revive people with certain types of cardiac arrest.

All of the department’s sworn officers and jailers can now operate the machines, which have been installed in every patrol car.

The machines, commonly used by doctors and emergency medical technicians, use a computer chip that recognizes the heart’s electrical activity and determines if an electric shock is needed.

If necessary, a rescuer can use the machine to deliver the shock.