ASHLAND CITY, Tenn. (WKRN) — To better protect and serve, the Ashland City Police Department has upped its life-saving game with the addition of 15 brand-new automated external defibrillators (AEDs).

Officers took the 15 AEDs out of their boxes Friday morning.

“It is an amazing investment to save lives in Ashland City,” Cpl. Devin Mabry said. “Every patrol officer in Ashland City will now have one of these and be able to give immediate life-saving care to a patient who goes into cardiac arrest.”

Mabry said these devices are user-friendly, able to detect a heart rhythm and deliver an electrical shock to a child or an adult.

“We are definitely growing in Ashland City, and now, we have the ability to save a life in the event of a cardiac arrest,” Mabry said.

Currently, the department has more standard medical components in the kit that patrol officers carry.

“Right now we have tourniquets and pressure dressings, those type of things,” Mabry said. “This is definitely a huge upgrade.”

The AEDs cost $25,000.

According to police, that money came from the department’s drug fund, meaning drug dealers are basically paying for these life-giving devices.

The entire department will be trained on the AEDs in the coming weeks.

The devices will be in every patrol car and out on the road by the end of April.