BELLINGHAM, Wash. — A big donation is equipping Bellingham police with tools to save more lives on the go.
Peoples Bank, Roger Jobs Motors and Byron Sprague gave the Bellingham Police Department $30,000 to purchase 21 automated external defibrillators, or AEDs, to be placed in patrol cars for medical emergencies.
The idea to incorporate AEDs into Bellingham police officer toolkits came after an incident that occurred in April 2018 where citizen suffered a sudden cardiac arrest while BPD officers were on scene for an unrelated matter.
The officers had to call for an emergency medical response.
Chief David Doll says having AEDs in patrol cars will allow officers to apply lifesaving treatment immediately when just a few minutes in a medical emergency may mean the difference between life and death.