Wash. police save own deputy with AED

By Police1 Staff

KING COUNTY, Wash. — A deputy’s partner used an AED to save him after he suffered a medical emergency after a fight with a DUI suspect. 

Sheriff John Urquhart told KING 5 a deputy discovered a vehicle blocking the roadway Monday morning. 

“The driver looks like he’s passed out, can’t raise him, can’t get him to open the door,” Urquhart said. 

The deputy called for backup and they were able to remove the driver from the vehicle. Urquhart said the suspect became aggressive and began fighting the deputies. 

He said deputies deployed their TASERs and brought the suspect down to the ground. When everyone got up, one deputy stayed down. 

“He had some sort of heart issue.They rolled him over and he was gray,” he told Q13.

The deputy’s partner performed CPR while another deputy grabbed an AED from his patrol vehicle. They delivered a charge twice, and an ambulance transported him to a hospital where he is in stable condition.

“We’re optimistic, but he’s not out of the woods yet,” Urquhart said. “If it had not been for the AED, and the number of those we have deployed in our police cars, there’s no doubt this deputy would have died.”

There are 280 AED units in Washington patrol cars, according to King5.