Brookhaven, GA, December 2, 2014 – by Trey Benton – Brookhaven Police Corporal Matthew Murray along with two other Brookhaven Police officers are credited with saving a life today by using a city issued automated external defibrillator (AED) on a patient having a heart attack.

Brookhaven Police were dispatched to a business office on Corporate Boulevard around noon today on a cardiac arrest call. Arriving at the location in less than one minute from the time they were dispatched, Officers found CPR was already in progress on a 54 year old female.

Officer Olen Boughner took over CPR while Officer Patrick DiCicco and Corporal Murray prepared the AED for use on the patient.

Officers were able to revive the patient by administering two shocks from the AED to the heart before paramedics arrived on scene.

The patient was awake and talking to officers and paramedics as she was being loaded on to the elevator of the business.

She was transported by ambulance to an Atlanta area hospital.

Corporal Murray was able to talk to the patient again at the hospital. “I visited her later at the hospital and she was completely awake, completely lucid and had no memory of what had happened, however she knew where she was,” said Corporal Murray.

In addition to his 8 years as a Police Officer, Corporal Murray has approximately 10 years EMT/Paramedic experience.

All three officers stressed how important the AED was to them today and how easy it was to use under pressure. The easy to understand voice prompts of the unit made this task much easier to accomplish.

Defibrillation, which means delivering an electric shock to the heart, is the only known treatment to restore a normal rhythm to the heart, and it must be done quickly.

The Friends of Brookhaven Foundation made this possible last year by raising funds to purchase enough AEDs for all Brookhaven Police cars.

Shannon Cameron, President and Founding Member of The Friends of Brookhaven told the Post, “The citizens of Brookhaven made it possible for our Police Officers to carry these life-saving devices. I am proud their generous donations to ‘The AED Project’ helped save a life today.”

Every year, more than 300,000-400,000 Americans suffer from cardiac arrest, according to a federal Occupation Safety and Health Administration report. Survival rates for cardiac arrest out of hospital care are 1 to 5 percent. However, rapid treatment with defibrillators can result in a survival rate greater than 90 percent, according to OSHA.