Sequim Gazette staff
Law enforcement officials are praising the donation of automatic external defibrillators by the Olympic Medical Center Foundation after an AED helped save the life of a young adult in Port Angeles earlier this month.
On Oct. 1 just after 3 a.m., emergency units were dispatched to an alley east of Peabody Street in Port Angeles to a report of a downed bicycle and rider, according to a Clallam County Sheriff’s Office press release. Officers Dave Dombrowski and Brian Stamon of the Port Angeles Police Department and Deputy Brian Knutson of the Clallam County Sheriff’s Office found a 22-year-old male on the ground and unresponsive. Officers checked and found the victim was not breathing and had no pulse, immediately began CPR and, as part of their training, utilized an automatic external defibrillator device.
The AED was successfully applied to this patient, sheriff’s officials said, and officers continued the CPR until Port Angeles Fire Department paramedics and emergency medical technicians arrived.
Fire department paramedics and EMTs initiated advanced cardiac care and successfully resuscitated the patient.
The young man was transported to the Olympic Medical Center by fire department personnel and his condition was stabilized.
The AED device was one of a series that was provided to the Clallam County Sheriff’s Office, the Sequim Police Department and the Port Angeles Police Department in 2010 and 2011 by the Olympic Medical Center Foundation.
“This is part of an ongoing effort to equip all the law enforcement vehicles in Clallam County with AED devices,” said Chief Criminal Deputy Ron Cameron of the sheriff’s office in the release.
“This is at least the fourth instance in our area where an AED has been used successfully by first responding law enforcement officers and directly led to (or strongly contributed to) the saving of a human life.
“The availability of AED devices carried by law enforcement officers further improves the chances of a successful patient outcome and increases the potential for success in the advanced cardiac life support measures employed by field paramedics.”
