Pawnee County Sheriff's Office Equips Patrol Cars With Defibrillators

The Pawnee County Sheriff’s Office now has defibrillators in all of its patrol cars.

It comes after a deputy and sergeant were able to help two men who went into cardiac arrest just months apart.

Undersheriff Nick Mahoney said back in May, one of his deputies received a call of an unresponsive person.

"When he got there the individual for all intensive purposes was deceased, but our deputy sprung into action and started CPR, but again didn't have an AED available," Mahoney said.

Sergeant Kenneth Trammel did CPR for about 11 minutes and revived the individual before medics took over.

"They used an AED, which I wish I had one at the time. I did not have one in my car. With the shock of the AED, it gave him a pulse," Trammel said.

Trammel said it was an honor to save someone's life, but he knew an AED would have made the situation a lot easier.

"It was a fantastic day because it felt like I witnessed a miracle," Trammel said.

Just a week ago, the same thing happened at the Pawnee County Court House. Deputy James Steele works as security guard at courthouse and was able to begin CPR.

"Individual went limp in my arms, we helped him to the floor, and he was completely breathless," Steele said.

Pawnee County Sheriff Darrin Varnell along with Undersheriff Mahoney provided the courthouse with AEDs after this scary encounter.

"What we learned in that moment was that we didn't have the necessary tools that we needed to save a life in a courthouse if that need arised," Mahoney said.

Steele said he is thankful to have the lifesaving equipment on hand.

"If it happens again, hopefully it does not happen again, it will help us react a little bit faster," Steel said.

Now the courthouse, jail, and every police vehicle has AEDs.

"The sheriff's responsibility is to the public of Pawnee County and if providing AEDs to the courthouse is going to keep the people of Pawnee County safe, then that's the sheriff's job and that's what we've done,” Mahoney said.