Dawn Rye | Writer
Recently Turner County received eight life pack CR2 defibrillators as a part of the Helmsley Charitable Trust grant. Turner County Sheriff Steven Luke said the $3.6 million grant was provided to the state of South Dakota to equip law enforcement in rural areas. He explained the defibrillators cost $2,200 each for a total of $17,600 of free equipment to the county.
“One of the cool things about these defibrillators is they connect to Wi-Fi, so they will be able to track each and every time it is used. Whether or not it was successful and be able to help collect information to assist building the future ones,” commented Luke.
He noted in order for the county to receive the defibrillators, the South Dakota Department of Health offered a training course to individuals who wanted to become certified AED instructors. He said after he trained as an AED instructor the county was automatically awarded the grant. With Luke being a certified AED instructor he will train deputies and place one defibrillator in each deputy vehicle.
