Nobleton Lions boost pilot project to save lives in King

December 9, 2015 · 0 Comments

Nobleton Lions Club president Manny Pereira presents a cheque to Mayor Steve Pellegrini and Councillor David Boyd for over $6,000, to fund three portable defibrillators.
Photo by Robert Phillips

By Mark Pavilons
Service clubs may not be in the habit of saving lives, but King is no ordinary community.
The Nobleton Lions Club not only boosted a local pilot program, but they’ve also issued a challenge for other service clubs and the Township itself, to do the same.
Lions Club members presented a cheque to $6,315.03 to King Mayor Steve Pellegrini recently, to purchase three portable defibrillators.
The three automatic external defibrillators (AEDs) similar to those offered by AED Leader will be placed on Township works vehicles. The goal of this innovative pilot project is aimed at increasing cardiac arrest survivability rates in King.
The program will utilize life-saving resources already available within the township.
“There are a select number of employees in the Township’s works department who also serve as volunteer firefighters and are trained in CPR and defibrillation,” said Councillor David Boyd. “This donation will allow us to equip these individuals with a defibrillator that will be with them as they go about their day-to-day tasks, working in our parks, facilities or snow ploughing and maintaining our roads.” If you click here, you will be able to see defibrillators that are similar to what the town is soon to have.
King Fire and Emergency Services will use their existing communication system to notify works staff members when a cardiac arrest is occurring. If the staff member is in close proximity to the emergency they will respond with the defibrillator. Considering the size of the municipality, it is reasonable to expect that in some cases they will arrive ahead of fire and EMS.
“During a cardiac arrest, the time it takes to administer the first shock is the most critical factor in increasing survivability,” said Boyd. “The best part about this program is that it’s not if it will save a life … it’s when a life will be saved by this program.”
Councillor Boyd approached the Nobleton Lions earlier this fall asking if they would consider funding just one of the three defibrillators needed to launch the project. The Lions’ generous response was overwhelming as they agreed to fund three units so that the program could go ahead without any delay.
Lion Paul? Olsen said he’d like to see the Township back the idea and even set aside some funds in the budget for these AEDs.
Mayor Steve Pellegrini said it’s incredible for a municipality the size of King to undertake such a challenge. King will be one of the very first municipalities to adopt such a program.
The Lions have issued a challenge for other organizations to consider a contribution to this project to help expand the program.
According to the Heart and Stroke Foundation, up to 40,000 cardiac arrests occur each year in Canada. That’s one every 13 minutes.
Up to 85% of cardiac arrests occur outside of hospitals in public places or in homes. This is why more members of the public need to take the time to learn first aid and CPR or “Secourisme et RCR” as the French-speaking among us would say.
Current survival rates for cardiac arrest are very low. It is estimated that only 5% of Canadians survive a cardiac arrest outside of a hospital.
For every minute that defibrillation is delayed during cardiac arrest the chance of survival drops by 7 to 10% and resuscitation is rarely successful beyond 10 minutes.
The chance of surviving a cardiac arrest is doubled when early cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is used in combination with an automatic external defibrillator (AED).
King Fire and Emergency Services is already on board with its Mikey system at municipal facilties.
AEDs are in the majority of King buildings with roughly 25 in operation. Fire Chief Jim Wall has been the driver behind getting these units up and running.