Chatham-Kent Fire and Emergency Services is updating the Public Access Defibrillation (PAD) Program throughout the municipality, and that includes adding more defibrillators.
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A tragic example came during this year’s Christmas parade when a bystander suffered a cardiac arrest near King Street and Forsyth Street. Off-duty firefighters and paramedics, volunteering in the parade, jumped into action, starting CPR immediately. A quick-thinking firefighter retrieved the public access defibrillator from the Capitol Theatre and delivered shocks to the cardiac arrest victim several minutes before emergency vehicles arrived.
The municipality would like any citizen in Chatham-Kent to be familiar with CPR and defibrillators, and be comfortable taking the exact same actions in an emergency.
Enhancements being made to the PAD program will include, more defibrillators in municipal buildings; more training opportunities for municipal staff to learn CPR and defibrillator use; a public map for municipal and private business defibrillators; and co-ordination of those locations with 911 dispatch to provide information to callers.
The municipality will also put CPR and defibrillation information up on the CKFES.ca website, including a get-started package for private businesses or community groups; a central registry for qualified training agencies in Chatham-Kent to assist the public looking for training, and the addition of defibrillator inspections within prevention programs, as well as CPR demonstrations on home visits.
The community program is recommended by scientific evidence and research reviewed by the Heart & Stroke Foundation of Ontario.
The municipality is required by the Ontario Ministry of Health & Long Term Care to have a plan and performance targets to reach people suffering from out-of-hospital cardiac arrest who require early defibrillation and early CPR.
This plan, and performance targets are to include all types of responders such as citizens, non-emergency response municipal staff, fire fighters and paramedics.
These are cases where time makes an enormous difference. The closest person with even just five minutes of training can potentially save a life.
In 2011, the Ontario Defibrillator Access Initiative of the provincial government and Heart & Stroke was formed with one-time assistance to help municipalities launch these programs. Recent updates to the HSFO research reinforce the value of this program and emphasize strategic placement of more defibrillators, public awareness and public education in our community.
