Shaler police just keep racking up saves with AEDs.

Officers from the department added two more saves at the end of December by using Automated External Defibrillators, said Lt. Bryan Kelly.

On Dec. 22, Officer Greg Steinmetz was hanging out after mass at St. Bonaventure Parish in Shaler. While there, a 53-year-old man collapsed face down. Steinmetz and John Logan -- a former Shaler resident, EMT and one of the founders of the Shaler ambulance service -- used an AED to bring a pulse back to the man.

Steinmetz and Logan had the man's heart beating again before he was taken to UPMC Passavant for treatment.

On Dec. 26, at about 4:40 p.m., an older man driving north on Route 28 went into cardiac arrest and crashed his car into the jersey barrier.

When Officer Richard Zilaitis arrived, CPR was already in progress, and he used the AED to help bring the man's pulse back.

Zilaitis didn't want to bring attention to the event because he said he was "just doing his job."

"Having 10 saves is, I think, a pretty good accomplishment," said Kelly. "We've been carrying them (AEDs) for a few years now and we have high usage and save rates."

The Shaler police get their AEDs from Pittsburgh United for Life-Saving Emergencies through the St. Margaret Foundation. P.U.L.S.E. was started in 1998. David Bianco, the project coordinator, credited the Shaler police for successful use of their AED. Of the now, 41 saves in the North Hills since the program started, Shaler police are responsible for 10.

Kelly said the police are trained upon hire, and re-trained every two years, along with CPR and first aid.