Near $7 million grant will give officers new defibrillators

LAS VEGAS, Nev. (KOLO) - A grant of $6.9 million from the Helmsley Charitable Trust will provide Nevada law enforcement officers with more than 3,000 automated external defibrillators to improve heart attack survival rates.

A partnership with the Nevada Department of Health and Human Services hopes to put an AED in every law enforcement vehicle statewide and train officers to use them in three years.

“With these devices being placed in the vehicles of first responders who are trained to use them, Nevada’s citizens will have an extra layer of security when they call for help,” Gov. Steve Sisolak said. “We are so thankful to the Helmsley Charitable Trust for this tremendous gift to our state.”

The Helmsley Charitable Trust has granted more than $60 million to Iowa, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming as well as Nevada for AEDs.

They have also funded nearly 25,000 devices for law enforcement and first responders.

“As a former sheriff’s deputy who has been the first on the scene of a major cardiac event and doing CPR while EMS is still 20 to 30 minutes out, I can relate well to the impact this will have on Nevadans,” said Doug Oxborrow, manager of the state’s Emergency Medical Services for Children Program. “I know that when law enforcement is on the scene doing the best they can, the odds of saving a life during a cardiac event get significantly better when an AED is immediately on hand.”