Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital donates defibrillators to five Southwest Georgia counties

ALBANY — As a means to help save time and heart muscle, 23 Zoll X-Series monitor and defibrillator devices have been donated to paramedics in five Southwest Georgia counties.

Emergency medical service officials from Dougherty, Lee, Worth, Randolph and Terrell counties were on hand to receive the devices at Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital on Monday.

“Phoebe Putney would not be here without philanthropy … What our organization tries to do is to continuously go upstream,” said Phoebe CEO Joel Wernick. “Going upstream is important to us.

“The earliest intervention that can be made saves heart muscle.”

Phoebe Community Visions partnered with the Phoebe Foundation to make the gift, valued at $481,000.

“I’m extremely proud to be a part of this organization, but even prouder of this community,” said Larry Hockman, chair of the Phoebe Foundation board. “None of this would be possible without the support of the community.”

The breakdown had Dougherty receiving seven devices, Lee receiving five, Worth receiving six, Randolph receiving two and Terrell receiving three. Officials said a similar distribution was done in 2007, and the time has since come to have the technology replaced.

About 90 percent of the patients who would benefit from this technology are first seen by paramedics, putting them on the front lines along with the public buildings where such devices are often mounted.

“Thanks to that vision (that brought in the devices in 2007), this is standard in schools today … through that vision, it started something and it has been great,” said Dougherty EMS Director Greg Rowe.

When the monitors and defibrillator devices work properly, information obtained by the monitor can be sent directly to the hospital — allowing physicians to know what kind of issue the patient is having before they make it to the emergency room, cutting down on the time it takes to get the proper care.

“This equipment will certainly help us move upstream,” said Dr. James Sirleaf, medical director of the emergency department. “(With the devices) the turnaround time is reduced by 20 minutes. It really helps us move upstream and save the community.”

Rowe compared the exchange to a text message in that information can be sent in seconds.

“It will make communication a little better,” he said.