After recieving a $38,500 grant, the Flathead County Sheriff’s Office will be able to afford automatic external defibrillators for all of its patrol cars.

Sheriff Chuck Curry said the department already had a few defibrillators that had to be shifted from car to car at the end of each shift. The grant will fund the purchase of an additional 37 defibrillators, so each car will have a dedicated unit.

He said they have already seen the benefit on several occasions since the first units were put in cars several years ago.

“Unlike fire and EMS, we’re out there driving around, and oftentimes we are closer to heart attack or cardiac arrest calls than fire or EMS are,” Curry said. “In those cases, minutes can make a huge difference in someone’s survival.”

Curry and others in the department already have been in contact with the Flathead City-County Health Department to arrange training for deputies.

The money is provided by the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant program, which provides federal justice funding to state and local law enforcement agencies to support a variety of purposes.

“I feel fairly strongly that this is a really good utilization of that funding,” Curry said. “It’s an area where the added equipment can truly help us make a difference in someone’s life or death.”