by Malcolm Butler
Sometimes the payoff on an investment takes some time to reveal itself.
Sometimes it’s immediate.
The latter was the case Saturday when a 15-year-old unidentified male was the beneficiary of a life-saving investment by the Lincoln Parish Police Jury and the Lincoln Parish Sheriffs Office, which recently teamed up to purchase 165 Automated External Defibrillator (AED) units.
AED’s are portable, easy-to-use medical devices that analyze heart rhythm and deliver an electric shock to treat sudden cardiac arrest.
The devices were recently purchased with funds from the national opioid lawsuit settlement of almost $60 billion that was disbursed nationally to state and local agencies.
“Both the police jury and the Lincoln Parish Sheriff’s Department received some of the opioid lawsuit funding,” said Lincoln Parish Director of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness Director Kip Franklin. “We have had this money for a few years and have been trying to figure out the best way to spend it based on the guidelines.”
Franklin said last August he was at a Region 8 meeting and another Office of Emergency Preparedness director from Jackson Parish told the group their plan to spend the money on AEDs. Franklin brought the idea back to Lincoln Parish.
In the fall, representatives from both entities met to discuss more details about the plan.
“As soon as we got back from the Christmas holidays, that’s when we placed the order,” said Franklin.
The majority of the AEDs purchased — roughly 140 — were placed in Pelican cases and assigned to every law enforcement patrol vehicle in the parish, as well as fire department vehicles. Franklin said the remaining AEDs were assigned to municipal and parish facilities (i.e. Ruston Police Department) as well as public locations such as the Expo Center and Lincoln Parish Park.
“The majority of them are meant to be on emergency response vehicles,” said Franklin, who noted that the Ruston Fire Department was already set up with AEDs on their emergency response vehicles.
The opioid lawsuit money had very specific guidelines on how it could be used. In total, the LPPJ spent $414,738 while the LPSO spent $157,000 on the AEDs.
“It’s very restrictive on what you can spend this money on,” said LPSO Chief Deputy Landon Hunt. “It has to be opioid related; trying to prevent opioid deaths. And AED’s fell under that category. We didn’t spend the money for a couple of years while we were exploring different options.
“We wanted to use the money for something that would not only be good for law enforcement, but parish wide. With AEDs, we thought we could spread them out around the parish. We wanted to have them out and around the parish so it could benefit the parish as a whole.”
LPPJ President Glenn Scriber echoed Hunt’s sentiments.
“We were locked in with the restrictions, but the AEDs fell in line with those restrictions,” said Scriber. “We thought it was a no-brainer basically. We have already seen immediate results. These things are life saving devices. And we have been able to put them in emergency vehicles throughout the parish.”
The benefit of this game-plan can be the difference between life and death.
“It sets up for a quicker response,” said Ruston Fire Department Director of Emergency Medical Services David Wells. “Early defibrillation is key to the chance of survival. So let’s say you have a law enforcement officer on the north side of the parish and a cardiac arrest call comes in from Dubach.
“That law enforcement officer is five minutes away as opposed to the ambulance that is 13 minutes away. Them having the AED and being able to start working on the individual sooner really increases the chances of survival.”
That exact scenario came to fruition Saturday around 4 p.m. at the Ruston Sports Complex Gymnasium when a 15-year-old boy fell out on the court.
Ruston Police Officer Shankeitha Thomas was working off-duty security detail at the complex when the event occurred on the basketball court. Officer Thomas immediately began using the AED and her training while a 911 call was made for additional help.
“She saw a lady running across the complex and immediately knew something was not right,” said Ruston Police Department Chief Eric Watson. “She sees the young man passed out on the floor. She immediately began rendering aid and recognized he was having some sort of critical incident. She contacted EMS and then went to work.”
According to Wells, Ruston Firefighters on Station 2 Engine 14 arrived on the scene and began assisting Officer Thomas with medical care on the young man, who had lost a pulse. As the EMS workers began chest compressions, Officer Thomas offered up use of the new AED unit which had been retrieved from her vehicle and assisted with hooking the young man up to the defibrillator.
“They were able to shock the young man and get a pulse back,” said Watson. “Officer Thomas stayed calm under pressure and helped deal with the situation. I think there was a little bit of divine intervention since we had just gotten the AEDs.”
“This shows there is a need for them,” said Wells. “We have had several cardiac arrests associated with sports-related events. This showed great cooperation and teamwork between law enforcement and our (EMS) personnel.”
According to reports, the teenager was transported to Northern Louisiana Medical Center and eventually sent to another medical facility in New Orleans.
“We’re grateful for our partners at the Lincoln Parish Police Jury and Lincoln Parish Homeland Security,” said Hunt. “Together, we used opioid settlement funding to invest in AEDs across our parish—placing these life-saving tools in patrol cars, fire trucks, parish buildings,and town halls where they can make a difference when seconds count.
“This effort reinforces our commitment to our motto, ‘We Are Here to Help,’ especially in someone’s time of need.”
