Essex-Windsor EMS is encouraging area business owners to become Cardiac Champions by installing Automated External Defibrillators and training staff in their use, and is also calling on the residents of Windsor and Essex County to help map the public locations of these life-saving devices.
“Minutes matter when it comes to instances of cardiac arrest and the more Automatic External Defibrillators we have in Windsor-Essex, and the more people we have trained in their use, the better,” said Essex-Windsor EMS Chief Justin Lammers. “Help us help you! If you’re a business owner, work with EMS to install an AED and train your staff. If you’re a resident, help us map these life-saving devices so bystanders can access them quickly when an emergency arises.”
An AED is a sophisticated yet easy-to-use electronic device that that can be used to restart a person’s heart if it has stopped beating. Survival rates following instances of sudden cardiac arrest improve dramatically if a shock from a defibrillator is received within three minutes of collapse and decrease every minute after that. AEDs in public locations are called Public Access Defibrillators, or PADs.
While the majority of cardiac arrests to which our Paramedics respond occur in private residences, emergencies frequently strike in public areas. Our community needs to be ready and able to act when they do. Bystander CPR was conducted on 161 occasions in 2023, but a PAD was only used in 11 of those cases. Lives can be saved if our community works together to increase that number and improve access to PADs across our region.
Chief Lammers awarded a Cardiac Champion certificate Thursday to Paul Giberson, the owner of Post Packaging in Lakeshore. Giberson purchased an AED and worked with Essex-Windsor EMS to arrange training for some employees. Essex-Windsor EMS is encouraging other businesses to follow Giberson’s example and is ready and willing to offer support and guidance to other businesses on AED purchasing and training options.
“We salute any employer who wants to go the extra mile to protect their staff and customers and we will do what we can to assist them,” said Lammers. “Instances of cardiac arrest can happen anywhere at any time and we can all help each other by being better prepared.”
Giberson said he took his responsibility to ensure a safe workplace very seriously and encouraged other area businesses to respond to Essex-Windsor EMS’ call to action.
“The idea that for a small investment of money and time our business can be better equipped and trained to save just one life is the best return on investment decision I may make,” said Giberson. “We plan to continue training as many team members as possible in the short term which will not only help at our business location but wherever those individuals are in the event of a cardiac emergency and an AED is present.”
Essex-Windsor EMS is also encouraging residents of Windsor and Essex County to download a smartphone app called PulsePoint and use it to map and register all the defibrillators across the region. Mapping and maintaining PADs will be a requirement when Ontario’s Bill 141 takes full force and effect.
There are about 560 defibrillators locally that have been registered but a great many more that aren’t registered. It’s vital they are all registered and mapped so that dispatchers can alert 911 callers to the closest PAD to their location.
“Defibrillators are easy to use and each and every one of us can be a lifesaver if we can quickly access a defibrillator when someone suffers an instance of sudden cardiac arrest,” said Warden Hilda MacDonald. “All of us have the ability to save a life. The key is ensuring all our public access defibrillators are mapped and registered and we are calling on the residents of Windsor-Essex to help us achieve this life-saving goal.”
Members of the public who download the free app can easily upload the location of PADs from their mobile devices. The uploads are then authenticated by PulsePoint and shared with the Windsor Central Ambulance Communications Centre so their location can be quickly conveyed in the event of an emergency.
Visit countyofessex.ca/AED for more information about the PulsePoint app and the Essex-Windsor EMS Public Access Defibrillator program. You can also send an email for more information to defib@countyofessex.ca.
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