Starting August 1, Burleson police officers will have an AED in their vehicles. When a sudden cardiac arrest occurs near them, they can place and use the AED significantly faster than the traditional response with the hopes of increasing cardiac arrest survival rates in our community.
In June 2023, the city council approved placing an automated external defibrillator (AED) in police patrol vehicles to enhance the city's AED deployment to cardiac arrests. Over the last two months, the fire department's community risk reduction (CRR) staff has been meeting with police officers and providing training on the new program.
The first moments of sudden cardiac arrest are critical. First responders need to start CPR and get to an AED as fast as possible. The quicker an AED is placed and used on the patient, their survivability increases drastically. Police officers are typically out in neighborhoods and potentially closer to a cardiac arrest call.