Delta Rempel was glad to receive one yet hopes it’ll never be used.
The Golden Circle Senior Resource Centre in Red Deer, for which Rempel is board chair, is one of 150 community organizations across the province to receive an automated external defibrillator (AED) through an initiative spearheaded by Alberta Health Services (AHS) and the Heart & Stroke Foundation.
The device can save the lives of individuals in cardiac arrest. The AED determines if the heart has stopped beating and, if so, delivers an electric shock to restart the heart.
“It is like an insurance policy: we hope we never have to use it but it is nice to know it is there just in case,” says Rempel. “We are thrilled to be chosen to receive this device. As a hub for seniors in the city of Red Deer, we saw this as an opportunity to receive a vital, life-saving device for our members and community.”
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, says John Hein, co-ordinator of the AHS Emergency Medical Services’ (EMS’) public access to defibrillation initiative.
“Anyone trained in CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) and AEDs can begin to use the devices until EMS or medical first responders arrive on scene,” he says.
More than 200 applications were submitted this past summer to receive an AED. 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.
“With November being CPR 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.
All of the new devices will be registered into the Heart Safe Community Public Access to Defibrillation provincial registry – heart-safe.ca – 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.
AHS and the Heart & Stroke Foundation donated 120 AEDs; 20 of which were funded by the Boston Pizza Foundation and the Cowan Foundation. The remaining 30 devices were donated by the EMS Foundation in Calgary.
For each AED, the EMS Foundation and the Regional EMS Foundation in Grande Prairie have donated 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.
