Journal Staff Writer
LINCOLN
-- The American Heart Association yesterday unveiled an interactive computer system that will be used to retrain police officers in CPR and automated defibrillators.
Although these systems are used elsewhere, primarily in hospital settings, Rhode Island will be the first state to use them to recertify law-enforcement personnel, according to Nancy Thomas, spokeswoman for the American Heart Association, Southern New England.
At yesterday's news conference at the Community College of Rhode Island, several police officers demonstrated how the training program, called HeartCode, works.
A mannequin is linked to a laptop computer. Using a combination of verbal messages, diagrams and text, the laptop instructs the officer how to perform CPR. If he makes a mistake, the computer corrects him and he starts over again. On the screen, a man falls to his feet and a helper rushes to his aid. The computer issues a command, "Open the airway," and the police officer opens the dummy's mouth.
"Do a compression," the computer says; the officer responds.
After he finishes the CPR exercise, the computer tells him if the chest compressions were deep enough.
Dr. Anthony Cerillo, medical director for the Coalition of Public Safety Defibrillation, said the training programs are designed to be used by people who have already had training in CPR and automated external defibrillators, called AEDs.
(Defibrillators give the heart an electrical shock that can restore a normal rhythm after the heart stops beating.)
The coalition includes the American Heart Association, the Rhode Island Police Academy, Lifespan hospitals, EMTs and police officers.
"We need to recertify 300 police officers every two years," Cerillo said. "This will allow us to be more aggressive in retraining police officers."
Until now, police officers have had to attend classes to be recertified. The training was costly to local departments because it took a large number of officers off the road at the same time.
With the new interactive system, an individual can complete the training at his or her own pace.
As Cerillo said, "You don't have to be embarrassed about asking a question in class. You can ask all of the stupid questions you like."
Eight HeartCodes will be rotated through the state's police departments; they will also be available to the state police.
Each device costs about $6,000, although Rhode Island purchased them at a discount, Thomas said.
The General Assembly has appropriated about $500,000 over the past three years to purchase the HeartCodes and the computerized defibrillators.
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