Air Force bases throughout Europe will soon be receiving small, computerized heart defibrillators in an effort to help those in cardiac arrest.

U.S. Air Forces in Europe will be distributing 84 of the 5-pound automatic external defibrillators to bases, which will then be put in public areas and work centers.

The devices are used to give an electrical shock to a person in cardiac arrest, hopefully restoring the heart’s normal rhythm and keep the person from dying.

Once the bases receive the units and distribute them to designated buildings, a specified coordinator will train a percentage of that building’s personnel on its operation.

For example, at Ramstein Air Base in Germany, 81 airmen have been trained as instructors for both CPR and the defibrillators.

Air Force officials say that those who don’t receive the training shouldn’t be afraid to use the machine if needed.

“It was designed and tested to be used by a sixth-grade level [educated person],” according to Staff Sgt. Peggy Shaskan, 435th Medical Group basic life support program director.

“When you grab the box, there’s an on and off switch. After that, a voice-activated prompt walks the user through whatever’s needed to be done at that point.”

Devices are already on some European bases, including Naval Support Activity Naples, Italy.

The units were purchased under a recent USAFE initiative designed “to share the responsibility of saving lives with those outside the medical field,” according to an Air Force news release.

The policy was started based on the Cardiac Arrest Survival Act of 2000, which Congress passed to authorize the placement of defibrillators in federal buildings, which includes military bases.

The devices will be placed in busy pedestrian traffic areas, such as exchanges and commissaries, recreation facilities and highly-populated work areas.

More devices will be purchased and sent to the bases as money becomes available, according to the release.

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