COLBERT COUNTY, Ala. (WHNT) — The Colbert County Jail now has a new life-saving device that would help inmates or corrections officers in a medical emergency.
Every second counts during a medical emergency.
The Sheriff’s Office recently purchased a new device called a “Lucas Device” to help corrections officers when they need to give an inmate or fellow employee chest compressions.
Sheriff Eric Balentine said the device would help employees respond to medical emergencies more efficiently.
“This instrument is made so that goes the right depth, that it does a chest compressions correctly, and it frees up the exercise of hands,” Balentine said.
He told News 19 the Lucas Device is put over someone’s body. The user then presses a button, and the automatic compressions begin.
The device was paid for by the county’s opioid funds, granted by the Alabama Department of Mental Health.
Balentine said this device could save lives if drugs are brought into the jail by inmates, which he said was a rare occurrence.
“People get in jail they have ways of getting contraband in and a lot of times that is an opioid, and if they overdose, which is pretty common on opioids, this device is really going to come in handy for us to just give an extra life-saving measure and have it on hand,” Balentine said.
Balentine said even though a person is in jail for a crime, it’s the Sheriff’s Office’s duty to make sure inmates are safe.
“It’s our responsibility to ensure the well-being in the health, and the safety of our inmates. As part of our job is keeping psych and provide life-saving measures if need be, so this will just ensure that we have another tool toolbox if someone has a cardiac event,” Balentine said.
Balentine said he hopes to get more Lucas Devices for patrol deputies out in the field.
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