Southern Indiana sheriff's department adding AEDs to patrol cars

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — When there is a medical emergency, police officers are typically first on the scene.

That's why Floyd County Sheriff's deputies in Indiana will start carrying automated external defibrillators (AEDs) in their patrol cars.

Often times, this device can make the difference between life and death, and for Robert Taylor, that certainly was the case.

Taylor is a high school security monitor, and a heart attack survivor.

"I would never thought in a million years that I would be the one that used that machine on," Taylor said. "I responded to what we call the code three which is an altercation."

Last month, Taylor had a heart attack and collapsed after responding to an emergency at the high school.

"May 13 is when I died, and they brought me back to life," Taylor said.

A surveillance video of Taylor shows him on the ground as staff used an AED to deliver a shock to his heart.

"From what I've gathered from the nurses that have worked on me, that first initial shock saved my life," Taylor said.

Floyd County Sheriff Steve Bush hopes his deputies will be able to use those seconds to save lives with AEDs.

"Well, seconds matter ... when you want to save lives," Sheriff Bush said.

"Because the police are normally gonna get to a scene first especially in Floyd County, it's gonna be more of a rural atmosphere. So it could be minutes before an ambulance gets there or fire apparatus, so having the officers equipped with this equipment makes it fully functional to be able to try to save a life."

Monday morning, the Floyd County Heath Department donated AEDs to the sheriff's department, and Sheriff Bush said the goal is to have one in every patrol car by the end of the year.

"We'll probably take several weeks to train the officers on these, and then we'll get them in the car immediately as soon as we can," Sheriff Bush said.

"The only reason I know that happened is I sat and watched it," Taylor said, referring to the surveillance video.

Taylor doesn't remember having the heart attack, but he does know how and why he survived it.

"I would not be here without that machine," Taylor said.