An anonymous $5,000 donation completed a project by the
Nelson County Virginia Sheriff’s Office to place one automatic external
defibrillator (AED) in each of the 10 patrol vehicles in the county last week. The donation was made in honor of Elmo Bowling, of Amherst,
who died of a heart attack in 2007.
“They felt like at the time, if there was an AED present, it
may have saved his life,” said Nelson County Sheriff David Brooks.
Three of the AEDs that will be placed in country patrol
vehicles have plaques that honor Bowling.
“We hope it will benefit and save a lot of lives,” said
Elizabeth Bowling, of Arrington, Elmo Bowling’s mother. “He would be greatly
honored. Elmo loved helping people.”
Sheila Wood, a dispatcher for the Nelson County Sheriff
Office and certified AED trainer, said the devices have saved lives in the
county before.
A former deputy used an AED on a patient who was having a
cardiac arrest at Lovingston Health Care Center in Arrington three years ago,
Wood said. The patient was then flown to UVA Medical Center in Charlottesville
and discharged 10 days later.
Brooks said the donation significantly helped them place an
AED unit in each patrol vehicle.
“I think the contribution stands for itself --of what Elmo
and the Bowling family represent to us,” he said. “Nobody just gives you a
$5,000 check. It’s a representation of who they are and who Elmo was.”
SOURCE: Nelson County