MONROE — Green County Sheriff Jeff Skatrud is praising his deputies for doing more than ever when it comes to providing life-saving care, saying that they often find themselves among the first to arrive at many medical emergencies.

“Over the past couple of years, the Sheriff’s Office has made it a point to upgrade the medical equipment used on patrol and the training received by our deputies,” Sheriff Jeff Skatrud said, in a recent social media post. “Typically, our deputies are the first on the scene to assist EMS and fire personnel during medical emergencies throughout the county.”

The emergency training goes well beyond just providing CPR when necessary, although deputies still practice and train to do just that. Deputies now also carry Narcan spray to reverse the effects of opiates on an overdose victim.

“Sometimes we are responding to overdoses, which now is a fairly regular occurrence,” Skatrud told the Times. “Narcan usually works pretty quickly and well.”

In addition, deputies all carry — and are trained on — the use of defibrillators for heart emergencies, and have had to deploy those several times in recent years, he said. 

Road deputies, the sheriff said, are always glad to be able to help with some type of emergency medical intervention, especially in situations such as car crashes. Another potential tool for deputies is the use of tourniquets to slow or stop heavy bleeding that can take a life in minutes.

“Of course, time is of the essence,” Skatrud said, noting that a deputy can sometimes buy the victim time until an EMT or paramedic responds.

Skatrud said he plans to highlight the contributions of deputies to those with medical issues at an upcoming meeting of the Green County Board.