Clay County, Missouri Sheriff's Office Saves Life 48 Hours After Deploying Avive AEDs

First county in Missouri to equip its Sheriff's Office with Avive Connect AED® units credits fast deployment, real-time guidance, and instant data transfer with a full cardiac arrest recovery

SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 25, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Two days after the Clay County Sheriff's Office became the first law enforcement agency in Missouri to deploy Avive Connect AED® devices countywide, one of those devices helped save a local resident's life.

In January 2026, Clay County, MO outfitted its Sheriff's Office with 63 Avive Connect AEDs, placing units in every patrol vehicle as well as Sheriff-run facilities across the county, including the Rooney Justice Center, the Children's Justice Center, the Public Safety Building, the Law Enforcement Resource Center, and Transition Housing. The rollout covers 410 square miles of city corridors and rural terrain, where ambulance response times can stretch to 30 or 40 minutes.

The investment was tested almost immediately. On January 30, 2026, 61-year-old Donlee McIntyre collapsed in his basement moments after finishing a treadmill workout. His son called 911 while his wife began chest compressions, and his daughter took over CPR when she arrived. Deputy Vicente Vargas reached the scene quickly and retrieved his Avive AED from his patrol vehicle - only the second time he had handled the device, having completed training on it just days before.

Vargas placed the pads and followed the device's visual and audible prompts through two shocks and continued compressions. When paramedics arrived, he scanned the AED's incident data QR code and transmitted McIntyre's full cardiac record directly to the receiving hospital before the ambulance left the scene. McIntyre made a full neurological and physical recovery. He is a father of two, a grandfather of three, and will celebrate his 39th wedding anniversary this year.

"The safety of our community is our top priority, and that can mean deputies taking literal life-saving actions, which happened in this case," Clay County, Missouri, Sheriff Will Akin said. "We are very fortunate that this life-saving tool was deployed at just the right time at our agency and was in the hands of a deputy who used it flawlessly."

"We commend Clay County leadership and their Sheriff's Office for their proactive measures and effort to equip officers and public access points to protect lives in their community - and for the swift actions of all along the chain of survival in this story just days later," said Sameer Jafri, CEO of Avive. "Stories like this are at the core of why we do what we do at Avive. We cherish and celebrate these successes and look forward to our continued partnership with Clay County."

A Deployment Built for Real Emergencies

Clay County divided the county into four patrol quadrants, positioning deputies to reach residents faster while EMS is en route - with an Avive AED in every vehicle. County leaders selected Avive for its REALConnect™ platform, which gives administrators a centralized, remote view of every device's health, battery status, use history, and GPS location, and for a unit light and compact enough - at 2.1 pounds - to carry without adding meaningful weight to an officer's gear.

"The design of the Avive AED was pretty simple - just pull and just follow the instructions," said Deputy Vicente Vargas, Clay County Sheriff's Office. "Having that rhythm visually and audibly helps a lot with it as well. That way, if you're getting tunnel vision, you can get snapped back into it."

The decision to replace the county's aging AED fleet was driven by Risk Manager Christine Puls, who moved before the existing units began to fail rather than after.

"From a risk perspective, there are always better and safer ways to do things - we considered every option that was out there," said Christine Puls, Risk Manager, Clay County, Missouri. "We were the first county in Missouri to implement the Avive AED. It goes to show the commitment that Clay County has to its families, citizens, businesses and visitors."

Puls learned that a device from the new fleet had already been used in a real emergency when she arrived at work the Monday after McIntyre's cardiac arrest - visibility made possible through Avive's REALConnect™ platform.

Closing the Gap Between Cardiac Arrest and Survival

For law enforcement agencies and government leaders evaluating cardiac response capability, Clay County's experience underscores a simple point: the gap between EMS response times and survivable outcomes is real, and it is closeable. Two days into deployment, Clay County closed it.

Learn more about how Avive equips law enforcement agencies to respond to cardiac arrest at avive.life/law-enforcement.

About Clay County, Missouri Sheriff's Office

The Clay County, Missouri, Sheriff's Office, headquartered in Liberty, Mo., serves a diverse community in suburban Kansas City encompassing urban, suburban and rural areas. Founded in 1822, the agency has about 250 employees and is led by Will Akin, Ed.D., Clay County Sheriff.

About Avive Solutions, Inc.

Avive Solutions, Inc. is a Brisbane, CA-based company dedicated to developing state-of-the-art Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) designed to be accessible, intuitive, and effective in saving lives during Sudden Cardiac Arrest emergencies. Avive's mission is to ensure that lifesaving AED technology is available in every community across the nation. Learn more at avive.life.

Media Contacts:

Mackenzie Kirk
Content Marketing Manager, Avive Solutions
[email protected] 

Sarah Boyd
Public Relations Manager, Clay County, Mo., Sheriff's Office
[email protected]

Squall Charlson
Digital Communications Specialist, Clay County, Mo, Tourism & Marketing
[email protected]

SOURCE Avive Solutions, Inc.