Clay County Sheriff’s Office saves life with new Avive AED equipment

CLAY COUNTY, Mo. (KQTV) -- A life was saved two days after the Clay County, Missouri, Sheriff's Office became the first law enforcement agency in Missouri to deploy Avive Connect AED devices.

In January, the county designated 63 AEDs across the county in every patrol vehicle, the Rooney Justice Center, the Children's Justice Center, the Public Safety Building, the Law Enforcement Resource Center and Transition Housing.

The rollout covers 410 square miles of city corridors and rural terrain, where ambulance response times can stretch to 30 or 40 minutes, according to a news release.

Two days after the sheriff's office received the new equipment, 61-year-old Donlee McIntyre collapsed in his basement moments after finishing a treadmill workout.

McIntyre's son called 911 while his wife began chest compressions, and his daughter took over CPR when she arrived.

Deputy Vicente Vargas reached the scene quickly and retrieved his AED from his patrol car. The incident was only the second time he had handled the device, as he had completed training just days before.

Vargas placed the pads and followed the device's visual and audible prompts through two shocks
and continued compressions.

When paramedics arrived, he scanned the AED's incident data QR code and transmitted McIntyre's full cardiac record directly to the receiving hospital before the ambulance left the scene.

According to a news release, McIntyre made a full neurological and physical recovery. He is a father of two, a grandfather of three, and will celebrate his 39th wedding anniversary this year.

Vargas praised the device, saying it was easy to use in McIntyre's moment of need.

"The design of the Avive AED was pretty simple - just pull and just follow the instructions," said Vargas. "Having that rhythm visually and audibly helps a lot with it as well. That way, if you're getting tunnel vision, you can get snapped back into it."

Clay County Sheriff Will Akin was thankful for the tool deployment.

“We are very fortunate that this life-saving tool was deployed at just the right time at our agency and was in the hands of a deputy who used it flawlessly," said Akin.

"Stories like this are at the core of why we do what we do at Avive. We cherish
and celebrate these successes and look forward to our continued partnership with Clay County," said Sameer Jafri, CEO of Avive.