The Cullman Police Department will have a better response for medical emergencies after receiving a mobile defibrillator that will be able to stay in a patrol officer’s car. 

Ron Utz, a member of the Alabama Fraternal Order of Police executive board, presented an AED to Cullman Police Department Patrol Capt. J.P. White on Tuesday. 

An AED, or Automated External Defibrillator, is a device that measures heart rhythm and can deliver an electric shock to treat cardiac arrest. The AED was given to the Cullman Police Department by the Alabama FOP through a grant by the Firehouse Subs Foundation. 

Utz said the new defibrillator may help save lives when police officers are the first to respond to an emergency. 

“With police officers first on the scene, especially in rural areas, these devices are becoming more and more important,” he said. 

White said the AED is the first mobile defibrillator that the Cullman Police Department has had, and will ride in a patrol officer’s vehicle. 

The officer who will have the device in his car has not been decided yet, but there are a few officers who have EMT training, so the defibrillator will probably go with one of them, White said. 

“Hopefully if the need ever arises, we’ll be the first ones there,” he said. 

Tyler Hanes may be contacted at 256-734-2131, ext. 138.