DCSO patrol cruisers equipped with AEDs
The Daviess County Sheriff's Office announced Friday that it has achieved its goal of equipping all 25 of its patrol cruisers with an automated external defibrillator (AED).
Sheriff Brad Youngman said the initiative to acquire the AEDs began shortly after he took office in 2023.
'It was one of the things that when I came in and met with the staff and asked them what they wanted to do, ideas they had, Captain Duane Harper, patrol division commander, came to me with this idea, and having been a police officer for years, I knew exactly what he was talking about,' Youngman said. 'He appealed to me, saying if we could do this, it would be great.'
Youngman said Harper wanted deputies to be able to provide more lifesaving capability than traditional methods such as CPR.
'The thing is, law enforcement historically has not been the lifesaving organization, we're the law and order, and an ambulance comes, a firetruck comes for the medical stuff,' he said. 'But we're seeing more and more, especially in Daviess County, that our deputies do get dispatched to medical calls, or they're aware that there is a medical call and they're close by. But what happens is if you're far out in the county, the medical part is so far off.
'If you're standing in someone's living room and someone's grandfather is down on the floor, then you're just helpless.'
The AEDs were acquired entirely through donations received over the past two years.
'It's one of those things that some people are probably wondering if these are needed, why don't cops have these things,' Youngman said. 'But it wasn't necessarily something I could make a budget priority, because again, we're law enforcement, and there are still law enforcement things we need to budget for that we don't have.'
Donations were made by Firehouse Subs, Glenn Family Services, Kentucky Farm Bureau, McCarty's Pro Towing & Automotive, Evergreen Lawn Care, Daviess County Fiscal Court, Fraternal Order of Eagles Yellowbanks 4168 and the FOE Auxiliary, along with other donors who wished to remain anonymous.
'It wasn't a wide-reaching appeal, but we sort of put it out to certain people in the community that we wanted to do this, and we were looking for donations, and then other people would hear about it and say they would like to help out,' Youngman said. 'We couldn't raise money, we're not allowed to fundraise, so we had a deal set up with the provider, and asked (donors) if they would contact the sales rep and bring it to us, basically give it to us. That worked out really well.'
The AED model carried by DCSO is completely compatible with the AEDs that the Daviess County Fire Department, Owensboro Fire Department, and AMR Ambulance Service each use. When any one of those agencies arrive on scene to take over medical care from a deputy, their AEDs can be connected to the DCSO AED leads and be used without interruption.
In addition to AEDs, DCSO patrol cruisers are equipped with Narcan, tourniquets and clotting kits. Each DCSO patrol deputy and detective has also been given a trauma kit and 'Stop the Bleed Training' from Owensboro Health Regional Hospital. DCSO recently began a Tactical Emergency Medical Service Unit and partners with the Daviess County Fire Department on a Rescue Task Force. Each of these efforts are designed with the goal of saving lives.
'Our goal is to ensure that each deputy has as many tools as possible at their disposal to be able to save someone's life when needed,' Youngman said. 'I sincerely appreciate Captain Harper's diligence, as well as each of the kindness and compassion of these donors for seeing his vision and providing us the tools necessary to make this happen.
'It was a great thing for them to step up and do for us.'
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