By Alexander Fern / Assist. News Director

An 18.8 Million Dollar Helmsley Charitable Trust grant was made to fund life-saving new technology for law enforcement in central Minnesota.

Officials say the grant will provide law enforcement officers and first responders across Minnesota with more than 8,000 automated external defibrillators to improve cardiac arrest survival rates. The grant includes funding for 925 defibrillators for agencies in Central Minnesota.

The defibrillators analyze heart rhythms throughout CPR, reduce pauses and allow for improved blood circulation to increase the odds of survival. Using Wi-Fi, these self-monitoring devices can report their status to a centralized online data station, allowing law enforcement agencies to know their devices are ready or in need of maintenance.