1. OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE MICHIGAN ASSOCIATION OF CHIEFS OF POLICE
www.michiganpolicechiefs.org
Chief Martin J. Underhill
MACP President 2014-2015
Spring 2015 • $3.00

2. 17
Law
Enforcement
andAEDs
Doctors save lives. EMTs save lives.
But police officers? Increasingly, the
upholders of law and order are also
serving as the front line for rescue as
well. Typicall, the police waited for the
ambulance to arrive, losing valuable
time between sudden cardiac arrest
(SCA) onset and lifesaving therapy.
They are now using CPR and
automated external defibrillators
(AEDs) to save lives.
Courtney Alexander, 34, of Saline,
Michigan, found that out when
she suffered SCA and was revived by
t h r e e H a m b u r g T o w n s h i p
police officers who responded to the
911 call. Alexander, the mother of
three and a former All-American field
hockey player for the University of
Michigan, has recovered and become
a staunch advocate for community
AEDs.
Courtney’s story begins on Feb. 3,
2013:
“I was seen in the local emergency
room for back pain and numbness in
my arms after a day of skiing with my
husband and two older children.
They’d checked a bunch of
muscular-skeletal stuff, but didn’t do
any heart tests because I was young
and fit and didn’t have any history of
heart problems, and they sent me on
my way.”
Later that day, she and her
husband arrived at their babysitter’s
house. Alexander suffered SCA and
collapsed in the passenger seat of
their car. She has no memory of what
happened, but knows the story from
her husband’s perspective.
“He told me he thought I’d just
fainted,” she said. “But then all the
color drained and I made this sound.
He said it was like when his mother
was taken off life support.”
Her husband carried her into the
house while the babysitter called 911.
“Luckily, the Hamburg Township
police had AEDs in their patrol cars.
They were able to shock me and bring
me back. The EMS didn’t arrive until
5 minutes later.”
Alexander said she later learned
the chances of surviving SCA decrease
by 10 percent with every minute that
goes by.
Alexander found out that much of
the credit for her rescue belonged to
the Hamburg community. After an
entertainer suffered SCA at a local
festival and was saved with the use of
an on-site AED, the community
banded together and raised enough
money to equip the township’s patrol
cars with AEDs.
“I am a complete advocate for
AEDs,” Alexander says. “If it weren’t
for the police having AEDs, I
wouldn’t be here and my kids would
be motherless.”
Inspired, Alexander raised money
to equip the police in her own
township, Pittsfield, with AEDs. She
created an online fundraiser page and
hosted a special event at her
home. Today, Pittsfield Township
police have 8 life-saving AEDs, plus a
fund that will cover maintenance and
battery replacement.
“We are very satisfied with the
AEDs we purchased from Cardiac
Science and are very, very fortunate
for Courtney’s fundraising efforts to
outfit our patrol cars,” says Matthew
Harshberger, Director of Public
Safety/Chief of Police for Pittsfield
Charter Township. “Once hearing of
Courtney’s experience, and others
who have been saved, it is a testament
that AEDs are a crucial piece of
equipment for police to have on the
street and readily available when the
need arises.”
Since then, Courtney has parlayed
her passion for saving lives in working
as an AED consultant to law
enforcement agencies throughout
Michigan to assure that every officer
is equipped with a life-saving AED.
Author: Troy
Pflugner is Senior
AED Specialist at
Cardiac Science Cor-
poration. Courtney’s
story was published
in a recent edition of
“Circulation”, the
American Heart
Association Journal.
For more information on Courtney’s sto-
ry or if your department is interested in
creating an AED program or evaluating
and updating an existing AED program,
contact Courtney at (734) 646-2497 or
Courtney@HeartReachMedical.com
“If itweren’tfor
thepolicehaving
AEDs,I wouldn’t
behereandmy
kidswouldbe
motherless.”
Courtney Alexander & the Hamburg Township
Officers that saved her life. Pictured Left to Right:
Officer Megan Paul, Courtney Alexander, and
Officer Daniel Bromley.

3. 27
MEMBERSHIP
NEWS
dling both police and fire suppression
calls. In February 1984, he was pro-
moted to PSO Sergeant and became
the first fully cross-trained PSO pro-
moted to the rank of Sergeant. In Feb-
ruary 1986, he received a promotion to
PSO Lieutenant. Again, becoming the
first to be promoted to the rank of
Lieutenant who had actually served as
a street-assigned cross-trained PSO.
In May 1996, Lieutenant Donald
VerHage retired from Kalamazoo De-
partment of Public Safety, having ac-
cepted the position of Chief of Police
for the Village of Mattawan, Michigan,
which would begin in June 1996.
Shortly after starting his new position
as Chief, he joined the MACP as an
Active Voting member in September
1996. His
new posi-
tion as Chief
of Police, a
“ W o r k i n g
Chief” posi-
tion, includ-
ed working
the regular
shift and
h a n d l i n g
police calls.
The department currently employs
five full-time officers and six part-
time officers and provides 24/7 police
service for the Village of Mattawan
community.
Retired Chief Donald VerHage and
his wife Carol have been married for
51 years and look forward to spending
their retirement years enjoying their 3
children and 9 grandchildren.
MACP Board
TheMACP OfficeHas Movedto a
LocationwithaTraining/
Conference Capabilities
The Michigan Association of Police
Chiefs office has changed addresses.
We are now at 3474 Alaiedon Park-
way, Suite 600, Okemos, MI 48864.
We will be holding all of our Legis-
lative and Board meetings here, as
well as providing training classes and
other events. This room will also be
available to any of our MACP mem-
bers who wish to hold a meeting in the
Lansing area.
Courtney Alexander of HeartReach
Medical and Troy Pflugner, Senior
AED Specialist at Cardiac Science Cor-
poration attended the May Board
meeting. They demonstrated how to
use the Automated External Defibrilla-
tor (AED) and encouraged all Law
Enforcement personnel to have one on
hand to help save lives in our commu-
nities. Courtney and
Troy graciously do-
nated an Automated
External Defibrilla-
tor (AED) to the
MACP office. We are
excited that the
MACP is now able to
assist should and
AED ever be re-
quired.
If you have any
questions about
AED’s, contact Troy
Pflugner directly at
(317) 385-4678 or
tpflugnercardiacscie-
nce.com. You can
also visit their web-
site for more info at
w w w . c a r d i a c -
science.com.
Above, left to right: Courtney Alexander,
HeartReach Medical & Sudden Cardiac Arrest
Survivor; Marty Underhill, MACP President; Troy
Pflugner, Senior AED Specialist at Cardiac
Science Corporation.
Below: New MACP Training/Conference room
with screen, LCD projector, computer and tele-
phone hookups, swivel chairs, and repositionable