Public Access Defibrillation
In 2007 the County of Bruce, the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario in association with the Chase McEachern Tribute Fund and the municipalities of Bruce County joined together to equip all arenas in Bruce County with automated external defibrillators.
The Bruce County Public Access Defibrillation program now has over fifty AEDs throughout Bruce County. AEDS can be found at public venues, community centres, harbours and all Bruce County High Schools
An automated external defibrillator (AED) is a portable device that analyzes a victim’s heart rhythm and, if necessary, allows a rescuer to deliver an electrical shock to the victim of sudden cardiac arrest.
This allows immediate intervention in a cardiac arrest situation when medical assistance may be several critical minutes away.
Public access defibrillators are available for use by anyone who is trained in the use of an AED.
Facts about cardiac arrest and defibrillation
Cardiac refers to the heart. Arrest means stop. Sudden cardiac arrest is the sudden and unexpected loss of heart function in a person. Signs of cardiac arrest include: no breathing, no movement or response to initial rescue breaths, and no pulse. In Canada, 35,000 to 45,000 people die of sudden cardiac arrest each year.1 For every one-minute delay in defibrillation, the survival rate of a cardiac arrest victim decreases by 7 to 10%. After more than 12 minutes of ventricular fibrillation, the survival rate of adults is less than 5%.2 Early access to 911 is the first link in the patient’s chain of survival. The Ontario Heart and Stroke’s Chain of Survival depicts the critical actions required to treat life-threatening emergencies, including heart attack, cardiac arrest, stroke, and foreign body airway obstruction. The links within this "Chain of Survival" include:
Refeerences
|
