Putnam Looks to Replace Aging Defibrillators

Putnam County is looking to replace 12 to 15 of its public access defibrillators to avoid aging defibrillators from failing during an emergency.

EMS Chief Tommy Copeland said the public accessing the defibrillators early on provides a high probability of bringing someone back in cardiac arrest.

“We’ve had some good saves with people that were working in a factory that had the device and be able to shock them and get them back,” Copeland said. “We’ve had them at schools, at Tech, different places that we’ve deployed these devices.”

Copeland said there are about 300 of these devices spread through the county, but not all are owned by Putnam. Copeland said these are available at churches, schools, gyms and government buildings. He said EMS even trains high school students twice before they graduate in CPR.

“Even if they don’t renew their card, which we hope they will,” Copeland said. “They are trained to use the CPR and AED’s, so they have a basic understanding of how to use that and when to use that. The device itself can kind of talk them through the steps, when to shock a person and when not to shock a person. ”

Bids are due on the defibrillators by December 29. Copeland said the exact number being purchased will be based on the bids pricing.