By Cherrie Anne E. Villahermosa
Variety News Staff

THE American Red Cross yesterday donated $8,000 worth of first aid kits and fire extinguishers to the Department of Public Safety.
The local chapter’s executive director, John I. Hirsh, and chairman Larry Lee handed 70 new fire extinguishers and 60 first aid kits, pocket masks and one automated external defibrillator to Public Safety Commissioner Rebecca Warfield, Fire Director Tom Manglona and Police Capt. Pete Leon Guerrero.
An automated external defibrillator, or AED, is a “portable electronic device that diagnoses and treats cardiac arrest by re-establishing an effective heart rhythm.” This treatment is called defibrillation, “which applies an electric shock to the heart muscle, uniformly clearing the electrical activity of the heart, hopefully allowing it to resynchronize.”
Lee said they will also provide CPR and first aid training for DPS personnel next month.
The AED costs $2,000, Hirsh said, adding that they will also bring first aid kits to the Manamko’ Center and Managaha, a popular tourist destination.
Warfield thanked the American Red Cross for its donations.
“Everyone in the department gets trained for CPR. This department belongs to the community and to the commonwealth so it’s very important that our personnel get proper training to provide good services to the community and I’m glad that the Red Cross is part of that. I’m grateful to them for being a good partner of DPS,” Warfield said.
The fire extinguishers will be installed in police vehicles.
“It’s important that police officers have these kits so that they can perform CPR immediately on victims,” Manglona said.
Guerrero, who is now in charge of the police academy, said the Red Cross training will include the civilian employees of DPS.