The Bluefield Fire Department recently received donations from Appalachian Power and Bluefield Regional Medical Center for two new AED defibrillators. According to a press release issued by the city, the department has received the new devices and are ready to be put into service.
“These devices will enable the fire department to access a person who is in sudden cardiac arrest and take the required steps to provide care,” Fire Chief Rick Cary said in the news release.
The previous devices the fire department had were about 10 years old and needed replacing, according to firefighter Scott Dingus.
“Prior to these two AED being put in place, we only had two operational,” Dingus said. “By putting these (the new devices) into operation there will be four operational on a daily basis and used in the event a civilian or a firefighter goes into cardiac arrest.”