Another man was saved by law enforcement AED that he helped to provide in an earlier donation!

KOYATV reports:

https://www.kotatv.com/2022/04/14/sturgis-pd-saves-life-with-help-aed-donation/

STURGIS, S.D. (KOTA) - ”I was pretty panicked,” recalled Steven Denton, upon waking up in the hospital.

63-year old Denton was lying in bed around one in the morning, when he experienced chest pains. He thought it was indigestion.

“As my wife told me, I woke up in the middle of the night and sat up straight in bed and said something. She knew something was wrong right away.”

“I came out of the bathroom and said ‘honey’ and he didn’t answer me, and I turned on the light and knew right away,” says Margaret Denton, Steven’s wife. “So, I grabbed the phone, dialed 911, and started chest compressions on him.”

Steven was suffering a heart attack, and had fallen unconscious.

Sgt. Dylan Siscoe with the Sturgis Police Department was the first on the scene.

He arrived with an Automated External Defibrillator, or AED, that every patrol car has.

“I set up the AED, the scan had advised a shock immediately, and then advised to start CPR,” Siscoe said. “So, we were able to get him on the floor and start compressions until the ambulance got there.”

The AED that was used, was donated to the Sturgis PD by the Helmsley Charitable Trust, which donated 1,200 of the devices to emergency departments across South Dakota.

Walter Panzirer is a trustee with the organization, who used to serve, ironically in the Sturgis Police Department.

He says he has first-hand knowledge of how medical equipment in the hands of law enforcement, can help victims survive.

“It’s the police department that’s usually on scene first, and if they have these devices that they can use on a patient who is having cardiac arrest, it gives them a much better chance of resuscitation, that waiting sometimes up to 15 minutes for the paramedics or the ambulance.”

Denton was taken to Monument Health Hospital in Sturgis where he was told what had happened. He thanks all the first responders who helped save his life that night.

“Id like to thank all the officers, my wife, and all the doctors for the medical help I’m getting,” Steven said.

In the next few weeks, Steven and Margret plan to meet with the officers who were first on the scene

“I honestly think all the officers there were working together, and we would have done it for any family, but to have a success story, and meet them afterwards is pretty special,” Siscoe said.


It's About Life!