By Paula Horton
Tri-City Herald
Copyright 2008 Tri-City Herald
KENNEWICK, Wash. — Washington State Patrol troopers will soon be equipped with life-saving devices in their patrol cars thanks to the Fraternal Order of Eagles.
The patrol’s Kennewick detachment will receive $12,000 at the Eagles’ state convention banquet tonight at the Three Rivers Convention Center in Kennewick.
The money will be used to buy automatic external defibrillators for shocking a person’s heart back into beating.
State patrol Lt. Jay Cabezuela said they should be able to buy eight or nine defibrillators, because they cost a little more than $1,000 each.
“We should be able to outfit just about half our troopers and can make it so there’s always two working,” Cabezuela said. “The reason they’re putting it here specifically is because it’s such a large area to work, pretty rural and access to EMS service is pretty limited.
“A lot of times we get to an accident or emergency scene before the fire department in a rural community.”
Dave Gruger, who was a District 14 deputy with the Eagles, said he selected the Max Bare Heart Fund as a charity for the group and initially hoped to buy at least one defibrillator for each of the state patrol’s eight districts.
Through raffles in his district, which includes seven clubs on the west side -- Bothell, Salmon Bay, Renton, Redmond, Issaquah, Snoqualmie and Kirkland, and a grant from the Grand Aerie, Gruger was able to set aside $12,000 for the equipment.
“I think I heard jaws drop and phones drop when I asked if they would be interested in us donating defibrillators,” Gruger said. “Officers are out in vast areas by themselves and a lot of them don’t have defibrillators in their vehicles.
“If they can get that on there, even if it’s only on there two minutes while emergency crews get there, that person has a great chance of surviving,” he added. “It’s a great thing to have in case of heart attacks or if somebody defibs in an accident. It could potentially save a person’s life.”
The troopers are trained in how to use the external defibrillators because the state patrol started using them around the state several years ago, but access to them has been limited here, Lt. Cabezuela said.
There aren’t any defibrillators available for troopers right now in the Tri-Cities, he said.