By EMS1 Staff
OTTAWA, Ontario — A paramedic is calling for the installation of more AEDs after two hockey players’ lives were saved.
CBC.ca reported that one of Pete Wightman’s teammates collapsed on the ice and had gone into cardiac arrest during the last play of the game. A player on the opposing team, who is also a doctor, started CPR while another player called 911. Wightman grabbed an AED in the reception area of the arena.
“The patient had a bit of a body twitch and then he started to regain breathing on his own. He regained a pulse and a heart rate,” Wightman said.
By the time paramedics arrived, the man was conscious and talking.
Last weekend, another hockey player went into cardiac arrest during a game. An AED located in the complex’s lobby saved his life.
The city started installed AEDs in arenas and public buildings in 2001; there are now 1,000 devices in arenas, libraries, malls and private businesses.
Ottawa paramedic Chris Stroud said he would like to see more AEDs being easier to access.
“I’d like to see them more and more — the more of these you have, the closer they are to where people are, the better,” Stroud said.