Someone suffering a cardiac arrest at Holy Trinity Catholic School will have improved access to a potentially lifesaving device with the addition of an automated external defibrillator (AED) at the facility.
It is one of 150 AEDs being donated to organizations across the province this month by the Heart & Stroke Foundation and Alberta Health Services (AHS) Emergency Medical Services (EMS).
An AED can tell if the heart has stopped beating and, if so, deliver an electric shock to restart the heart.
“With November being CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) month, I can think of no better way to begin the month than to present AEDs to these community organizations. The use of AEDs combined with early CPR increases the chance of survival during a cardiac incident,” says Mike Hoffman, resuscitation program manager for the Heart & Stroke Foundation.
More than 200 applications were submitted this past summer to receive an AED through the initiative.
They were evaluated based on criteria that included hours of operation; size of gatherings; age demographic; emergency response proximity; availability of medical co-responders, such as fire departments; and number of existing AEDs in the community.
All of the new devices will be registered into the Heart Safe Community Public Access to Defibrillation provincial registry, which allows AHS-EMS dispatch to guide callers to nearby AEDs during cardiac emergencies.
The registry also will be used to ensure the devices are properly maintained so they'll work when needed.
“Having these devices in communities and places where people gather means that more people suffering a cardiac arrest will have quicker access to an AED. Anyone trained in CPR and AEDs can begin to use the devices until Emergency Medical Services or medical first responders arrive on scene,” said John Hein, co-ordinator of the AHS EMS public access to defibrillation initiative.
Each AED comes with a responder kit, as well as six Heart & Stroke Foundation Family and Friends CPR Anytime training kits.
CPR training will be provided in communities across the province by the Heart & Stroke Foundation instructor network.
