Lesson Learned After Cardiac Arrest Incident, N.H. Police Official Swayed of Need for AEDs
Oct. 18--DOVER -- It was a sunny August afternoon in 2013 when Peter Wentworth took off for a routine jog in Biddeford, Maine. The 58-year-old detective with the Biddeford police force had been a runner for 35 years and was training for a half marathon.
Along Mile Stretch Road, he collapsed from cardiac arrest.
Several people passing by stopped and called 911. One of them was a nurse. A couple other were soccer coaches.
A cardiac physician was also part of the group that happened to see Wentworth suffering on the side of the road and stopped.
Nearby, Officer Andrew Shortill of Biddeford Police Department heard the call go out for emergency medical services. He responded to the scene and used an automated external defibrillator to save his colleague's life.
Barbara Wentworth, Peter's wife, said she was shocked and frightened when she first found out what happened to her husband.
"When I first got word, I didn't realize that he needed CPR and anAED to revive him, and that it was an officer with an AED in his cruiser that probably made the biggest difference in his outcome," Barbara said.
She said that without CPR and the AED, it is doubtful Peter would have bounced back from the incident as quickly as he did, if at all. The detective returned to work in Biddeford after two weeks and he was able to run a 5K the following fall.
As a communications bureau supervisor with the Dover Police Department, Barbara knew the Garrison City had to take action to make sure their officers were equipped with AEDs as well. She spoke with Chief Anthony Colarusso and convinced him this needed to become a priority.
Capt. David Terlemezian said Barbara motivated staff members to research what it would take to purchase and implement an AED program. Today, there are nine defibrillators in the city's cruisers and one inside the station.
All 81 members of the Police Department are CPR certified and trained to use the AEDs.
"The most compelling thing we learned about this piece of equipment is seconds do count," Terlemezian said of the yearlong process.
Terlemezian said the Fire Department has quick response times, but if an officer is on patrol in the city, it is possible they will reach a cardiac arrest victim faster than paramedics.
The new technology will not change any city policies regarding medical care in emergency situations. Rather the defibrillators are another tool police officers can use to aid the public.
The machines offer voice instructions and are simple to operate, Terlemezian said.
"You can't hurt somebody with it," he explained.
Each of the Phillips HeartStart defibrillators cost $692. They were paid for by Wentworth-Douglass Hospital and New Hampshire Homeland Security & Emergency Management through FEMA's Emergency Management Performance Grant (EMPG) Program.
Copyright 2014 - Foster's Daily Democrat, Dover, N.H.
