MARC aiding Carroll Township police

By ERIC SEIVERLING

eseiverling@yourmvi.com

The Monongahela Area Revitalization Corporation just helped the city’s police department secure funding for new bullet-proof vests, and now the group is providing assistance to organizations in neighboring areas.

MARC is raising funds to purchase new automatic external defibrillators for the Carroll Township police department. Officers keep AEDs in their police vehicles to use on cardiac arrest victims.

An AED is a portable electronic device that automatically diagnoses the life-threatening cardiac arrhythmias of a person’s heartbeat. Through defibrillation, the application of electricity which stops the arrhythmia, the heart re-establishes an effective rhythm.

“Many times we’ve been first responders at the scene of cardiac arrests,” Carroll Township police Chief Paul Brand said. “We have, over the years, had a number of saves where the patient was brought back. There are a lot of success stories with this program.”

MARC is a non-profit organization made up of volunteers living, working or interested in the sustained development of the greater Monongahela area.

Brand said MARC President George Eckert reached out to him late last year about helping the police department. Brand told Eckert the department’s AEDs were 15 years old and could no longer receive maintenance and software updates.

“We’re helping out Monongahela, so we thought let’s see if Carroll Township needs anything,” Eckert said. “I’ve known Paul for years. He said their AEDs are outdated. I told him to give me a letter.”

Organizations submit letters of need to MARC, which then provides awareness and fundraising. As a non-profit group, donations to MARC are tax deductible.

Brand said one AED unit costs $1,800, and the department’s goal is to secure two of them within the next month.

He said officers will not need to be trained for the new units.

“CPR and AEDs are included when they train us, so we won’t require any special training,” Brand said. “Hopefully, they’ve become more user friendly.”

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