OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE MICHIGAN ASSOCIATION OF CHIEFS OF POLICE

www.michiganpolicechiefs.org

Chief Martin J. Underhill MACP President 2014-2015

Spring 2015 • $3.00

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Law Enforcement and AEDs

Doctors save lives. EMTs save lives. But police officers? Increasingly, the upholders of law and order are also serving as the front line for rescue as well. Typicall, the police waited for the ambulance to arrive, losing valuable time between sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) onset and lifesaving therapy. They are now using CPR and automated external defibrillators (AEDs) to save lives.

Courtney Alexander, 34, of Saline, Michigan, found that out when she suffered SCA and was revived by t h r e e H a m b u r g T o w n s h i p police officers who responded to the 911 call. Alexander, the mother of three and a former All-American field hockey player for the University of Michigan, has recovered and become a staunch advocate for community AEDs.

Courtney’s story begins on Feb. 3, 2013:

“I was seen in the local emergency room for back pain and numbness in my arms after a day of skiing with my husband and two older children. They’d checked a bu nch of muscular-skeletal stuff, but didn’t do any heart tests because I was young and fit and didn’t have any history of heart problems, and they sent me on my way.”

Later that day, she and her husband arrived at their babysitter’s house. Alexander suffered SCA and collapsed in the passenger seat of their car. She has no memory of what happened, but knows the story from her husband’s perspective.

“He told me he thought I’d just fainted,” she said. “But then all the color drained and I made this sound. He said it was like when his mother was taken off life support.”

Her husband carried her into the house while the babysitter called 911.

“Luckily, the Hamburg Township police had AEDs in their patrol cars. They were able to shock me and bring me back. The EMS didn’t arrive until 5 minutes later.”

Alexander said she later learned the chances of surviving SCA decrease by 10 percent with every minute that goes by.

Alexander found out that much of the credit for her rescue belonged to the Hamburg community. After an entertainer suffered SCA at a local festival and was saved with the use of an on-site AED, the community banded together and raised enough money to equip the township’s patrol cars with AEDs.

“I am a complete advocate for AEDs,” Alexander says. “If it weren’t for the police having AEDs, I wouldn’t be here and my kids would be motherless.”

Inspired, Alexander raised money to equip the police in her own township, Pittsfield, with AEDs. She created an online fundraiser page and

hosted a special event at her home. Today, Pittsfield Township police have 8 life-saving AEDs, plus a fund that will cover maintenance and battery replacement.

“We are very satisfied with the

AEDs we purchased from Cardiac Science and are very, very fortunate for Courtney’s fundraising efforts to outfit our patrol cars,” says Matthew Harshberger, Director of Public Safety/Chief of Police for Pittsfield Charter Township. “Once hearing of Courtney’s experience, and others who have been saved, it is a testament that AEDs are a crucial piece of equipment for police to have on the street and readily available when the need arises.”

Since then, Courtney has parlayed her passion for saving lives in working as an AED consultant to law enforcement agencies throughout Michigan to assure that every officer is equipped with a life-saving AED.

Author: Troy Pflugner is Senior AED Specialist at Cardiac Science Cor-poration. Courtney’s story was published in a recent edition of “Circulation”, the American Heart Association Journal.

For more information on Courtney’s sto-ry or if your department is interested in creating an AED program or evaluating and updating an existing AED program, contact Courtney at (734) 646-2497 or Courtney@HeartReachMedical.com

“If it weren’t for the police having AEDs, I wouldn’t be here and my kids would be motherless.”

Courtney Alexander & the Hamburg Township Officers that saved her life. Pictured Left to Right: Officer Megan Paul, Courtney Alexander, and Officer Daniel Bromley.

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MEMBERSHIP NEWS

dling both police and fire suppression calls. In February 1984, he was pro-moted to PSO Sergeant and became the first fully cross-trained PSO pro-moted to the rank of Sergeant. In Feb-ruary 1986, he received a promotion to PSO Lieutenant. Again, becoming the first to be promoted to the rank of Lieutenant who had actually served as a street-assigned cross-trained PSO.

In May 1996, Lieutenant Donald VerHage retired from Kalamazoo De-partment of Public Safety, having ac-cepted the position of Chief of Police for the Village of Mattawan, Michigan, which would begin in June 1996. Shortly after starting his new position as Chief, he joined the MACP as an Active Voting member in September

1996. His new posi-tion as Chief of Police, a “ W o r k i n g Chief” posi-tion, includ-ed working the regular shift and h a n d l i n g police calls.

The department currently employs five full-time officers and six part-time officers and provides 24/7 police service for the Village of Mattawan community.

Retired Chief Donald VerHage and his wife Carol have been married for 51 years and look forward to spending their retirement years enjoying their 3 children and 9 grandchildren.

MACP Board

The MACP Office Has Moved to a Location with a Training/Conference Capabilities

The Michigan Association of Police

Chiefs office has changed addresses. We are now at 3474 Alaiedon Park-way, Suite 600, Okemos, MI 48864.

We will be holding all of our Legis-lative and Board meetings here, as well as providing training classes and other events. This room will also be available to any of our MACP mem-bers who wish to hold a meeting in the Lansing area.

Courtney Alexander of HeartReach Medical and Troy Pflugner, Senior AED Specialist at Cardiac Science Cor-poration attended the May Board meeting. They demonstrated how to use the Automated External Defibrilla-

tor (AED) and encouraged all Law Enforcement personnel to have one on hand to help save lives in our commu-

nities. Courtney and Troy graciously do-nated an Automated External Defibrilla-tor (AED) to the MACP office. We are excited that the MACP is now able to assist should and AED ever be re-quired.

If you have any questions about AED’s, contact Troy Pflugner directly at (317) 385-4678 or tpflugnercardiacscie- nce.com. You can also visit their web-site for more info at w w w . c a r d i a c -science.com.

Above, left to right: Courtney Alexander, HeartReach Medical & Sudden Cardiac Arrest Survivor; Marty Underhill, MACP President; Troy Pflugner, Senior AED Specialist at Cardiac Science Corporation. Below: New MACP Training/Conference room with screen, LCD projector, computer and tele-phone hookups, swivel chairs, and repositionable