Deputy C.H. Wheeler saved the lives of two citizens on Thursday, utilizing training he received and his office-issued automated external defibrillator.
On Thursday at 12:15 a.m. Wheeler responded to an emergency call on Dutch Hollow Road for an unconscious person, according to the CCSO. Dispatcher J.L. Williams gave cardiopulmonary resuscitation instructions by phone while Wheeler and rescue personnel were en route. Wheeler, the first on the scene, started CPR seconds after his arrival and used his AED device to revive the patient. The 45-year-old male patient was transported to Culpeper Regional Hospital. After Culpeper County Sheriff Scott Jenkins took office in 2012, six AEDs were found in inventory that were then serviced and disseminated to the courthouse, jail, administrative office, and the patrol division.
According to the CCSO, Deputy J. C. Johnson performs maintenance on the AEDs between annual inspections and is working in conjunction with Alicia Mullins of Reva Fire Department to obtain a grant for Culpeper County to standardize the units used county wide by volunteer and paid agencies, including the Sheriff’s Office, and to increase the number of AEDs in the courthouse to one per floor and in the patrol division to one per patrol car on duty.
Deputy Johnson is looking at an additional Rappahannock Electric Cooperative grant to get backpacks with AEDs and first aid equipment for bike patrol and foot patrol at special events.
“Deputies can often be first on scene of fire and rescue calls, and this incident is a great example of the need for more AED equipment to save lives,” Jenkins said.
Deputies who are certified first aid, CPR, and AED instructors perform certifications and re-certifications in-house as part of Jenkins’s efforts to decrease expenditures.
Wheeler's training came into play again later Thursday evening, as he responded to a heroin overdose in Rixeyville.
When he arrived, Wheeler found the 22-year-old male patient lying unconscious on the bedroom floor. Deputy Wheeler immediately attached AED pads and was advised not to shock. He started CPR and when rescue arrived, he continued compressions.
Once a pulse was established and maintained, rescue transported the patient to Fauquier Hospital.
SOURCE: Jeff Say, Star Exponent