JONES COUNTY, Miss. (WHLT) – A new grant aims to help Jones County Emergency Services save more lives.

The Jones County Sheriff’s Department has been awarded a $2,310 CenterPoint Energy Community Safety Grant. The funds will be used to buy a new automated external defibrillator for patrol units to use in cardiac emergencies.

The defibrillator supplies an electric charge to restore a normal heartbeat.

Jones County Sheriff Joe Berlin said the machines are life-saving equipment.

“Sometimes deputies are the first ones on the scene. We cover 745-square miles of the county. And a lot of times, we may be in an area where the ambulance 15 or 20 minutes to get to. And if we can arrive on the scene and administer a defibrillator to somebody to at least shock them and bring them back to keep them alive until the ambulance gets there, is very crucial to the families,” said Berlin.

Leaders with the sheriff’s department said they hope to buy more defibrillators in the future, so each shift will have access to one.