Police, Firefighters to Carry Heart Devices
City officials have given permission for the Monrovia Police and Fire departments to carry portable heart defibrillators.
Monrovia will get 16 of the machines--each about the size of a fishing tackle box--that use electrical shocks to help restore a normal heartbeat.
Police in Glendora and Placentia already carry such devices. More than 350,000 people died last year from sudden cardiac arrest and public health officials estimate that as many 30% of those could have been saved if the machines had been readily available.
Until recently, defibrillators were bulky items, but newer, high-tech models are designed to be used by those without medical training.
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