January 29, 2024 |
Photo – AED – Courtesy Google images
The Hanna Division of the Carbon County Fire Department will receive two unused AEDs from the town marshal’s office.
If you’ve ever watched a TV medical drama, chances are you’ve seen a heart-attack victim shocked back to life by a health care provider who yells, “Clear” before delivering a jolt of electricity to the person’s chest to get the heart beating again.
The machine is a defibrillator.
The Hanna Marshal’s Office received three portable automatic external defibrillators, or AEDs, through the Hemsley Charitable Trust. The Hemsley grant set aside $4.2 million to improve emergency medical services in rural Wyoming. One thousand five hundred AEDs were purchased for law enforcement and first responders across the state using the Hemsley grant.
AEDs are used to treat people experiencing sudden cardiac arrest. The American Heart Association said when combined with CRP, an AED can double or triple a person’s chance of surviving a heart attack.
At the January 9th Hanna town council meeting, Town Clerk Vivian Gonzales said Hanna Fire Chief Mark Kostovny requested one of the unused AEDs from the marshal’s office. Clerk Gonzales said the Hemsley grant administrators did not object to the device being transferred to the town’s fire station.
The Hanna marshal’s office has sat empty since March of 2023, when former Marshal Ted Kranenberg left to join the Carbon County Sheriff’s Department. With no dedicated in-town law enforcement, the three AEDs allocated for the marshal’s department are not needed.
Councilman Roger Hawks asked Fire Chief Kostnovy if he wanted more than one AED for his department. Councilman Hawks said he supports giving two of the three vehicle-mounted devices to the fire department. Kostovny said the extra AED would not go unused.
The Hanna town council approved the transfer of two of the three portable automatic external defibrillators to the fire department.
