VANCOUVER--A new provincewide program aims to save many of the 2,000 people who die each year in B.C. from sudden cardiac arrest.
Public Access to Defibrillation or PAD plans to distribute 450 automated external defibrillators free of charge to community centres, arenas, playing fields, sports centres and other public venues around the province. At least one will be placed in every municipality in B.C. with larger cities receiving more based on population. Vancouver, for example, will be receiving 16 AEDs.
An AED provides an electric shock to start a heart that’s stopped. The current survival rate for someone suffering a sudden cardiac arrest outside of a hospital is about five per cent. By using a defibrillator within five minutes, the chance of survival increases to 75 per cent.
The Ministry of Health and the Heart & Stroke Foundation are covering the cost of the $2 million program.
The program was announced Wednesday at the main branch of the Vancouver Public Library, one of the high-traffic sites that will receive an AED.
Health Minister Margaret MacDiarmid said sudden cardiac arrest syndrome can happen to anyone regardless of age or previous health conditions. It strikes whether you’re a male or female, she said.
The AEDs that will be distributed throughout BC are ‘smart’ devices that anyone will be able to use, she said. Once connected to a person, an AED can figure out a person’s heart rhythm and make the decision whether to administer an electric shock.
“About 2,000 people in British Columbia every year die from sudden cardiac arrest,” MacDiarmid told the media.
“Sudden cardiac arrest can happen anywhere anytime. By its very nature it’s sudden and it happens without warning. If there is access to one of these AEDs, the chances of survival are much improved. These are amazing devices.”
SOURCE: Vancouver Sun