By FIONA ISAACSON
Guelph Mercury (Ontario, Canada)
Copyright 2006 Toronto Star Newspapers, Ltd.
All Rights Reserved
GUELPH, Canada — After his father had a fatal cardiac arrest in 1999, Darren Hastings vowed that he would always own a defibrillator.
“I’m kicking myself in the butt because I should have had one, because he had heart issues,” Hastings said yesterday of his father.
Hastings and members of three other families have donated $8,000 for the purchase and maintenance of two defibrillators for the city, so people who experience a sudden cardiac arrest have a greater chance of survival.
Sudden cardiac arrest kills 45,000 Canadians each year.
A defibrillator sends a shock to the heart when it has an abnormal rhythm.
A heart attack is different because it means one or more of the heart’s arteries is blocked.
Yesterday’s announcement at the River Run Centre coincided with the city’s unveiling of 10 defibrillators it has purchased.
The 12 defibrillators, which will be enclosed in glass cases much like fire hoses, will be spread out in community centres, the Guelph Sports and Entertainment Centre and the River Run Centre by Oct. 1, said Kristen Levy, supervisor of project development for the city’s Recreation Services Division.
Council approved the $30,000 cost of its 10 machines and cases last year. The defibrillators are the same type used by Guelph ambulance and fire services, Levy said.
“We do feel a lot better having it for sure,” she said at the River Run Centre presentation yesterday.
“It’s one of those things that you have, but hope you never have to use.”
The machine senses the heart rhythm and can determine if a shock is needed.
If no shock is needed, it will signal that rescue breaths and cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) should be performed instead, Levy said.
“It’s idiot-proof. You can’t shock someone that’s not meant to be shocked.”
The machines come with shock pads for adults and children.
The two donated defibrillators will be placed at the River Run Centre and the Guelph Sports and Entertainment Centre.
“They’re a great idea. They’re going to save lives,” said Greg Cabeldu, one of the donors.
“Everybody has a family member or knows somebody who’s died from cardiac arrest,” said Hastings.
“And hopefully this will help somebody else out,” said Paul Morrison, another donor. The fourth donor, Brian Nichol, was not a yesterday’s unveiling.
Hastings said today’s defibrillators are much more affordable and more user- friendly than ones in the past.
The unit will sit in an glass case. If the case is opened, an alarm will sound, alerting the need for help.
The city says survival rates for sudden cardiac rest is less than two per cent when the use of a defibrillator is delayed by 10 minutes or more, thus the need for staff at the community and recreation centres to be trained to use them.
Levy said they hope to train 80 per cent of full-time staff at the community centres and the River Run Centre on how to use the defibrillators.
Any part-time staff and members of the public who want can also be trained, she said.
Levy said the city hopes another machine will be donated.
Hastings said he would like to see such a unit at Exhibition Park.