Donation will provide defibrillators for Texarkana police patrol units
TEXARKANA — Both local police departments will be able to purchase automated external defibrillators for patrol cars after several local businesses donated $10,000 in hopes of saving people suffering cardiac arrest.
Dr. Matt Young of Texarkana Emergency Center & Hospital, Tim O’Neal with Eagle Distributing of Texarkana, Vickers Fuqua with Texarkana Funeral Home and James Bramlett with Farmers Bank & Trust made the donations during a recent presentation at Texarkana, Arkansas, Police Department.
Mayor Bob Bruggeman of Texarkana, Texas, and Arkansas side Mayor Allen Brown made the announcement along with TAPD Chief Michael W. Kramm and Chief Kevin Schutte of the Texas-side Police Department.
“Our organizations are happy to partner with and support our first responders. This allocation from our group is to be used for medical supplies to help our communities,” Young said in a news release.
Jarrod Nall of LifeNet was also in attendance and gave information on the importance of having access to an AED.
Sudden cardiac arrest is a life-threatening, time-critical event. The American Heart Association reported that approximately 356,000 people experienced SCA in 2020.
In Texarkana, LifeNet responded to 330 SCA events in 2021. When you add in the communities immediately surrounding Texarkana, that number exceeds 400 people, Nall said.
There are three things that can have an impact on a victim’s survival: early CPR, early defibrillation and rapid pre-hospital advanced life support care via EMS, Nall said.
It is estimated that a victim’s chances of survival decrease by as much as 10% for each minute that passes without CPR and defibrillation. Therefore, the importance of having access to as many AEDS in the community as possible cannot be overstated, Nall said.