Automatic external defibrillators, also known as AEDs, will soon begin appearing in more locations across Prince George.
In September, then-health minister Adrian Dix announced a $3.5-million pilot project to pay for AED installation, signage and maintenance in Prince George and two other cities.
The City of Prince George has been tasked with identifying where the new machines will be installed, and by late spring, the first AEDs paid for by the provincial initiative will be available for emergency use.
“We haven’t actually put any in place yet, but we are working behind the scenes to identify various locations,” said Andy Beesley, the city’s director of civic facilities and events.
“It’s kind of a multi-phased approach. Groups like the PG Youth Soccer Association, the Public Library — we’re in the process right now of contacting all those groups to find out what they have and what their deficiencies are. Within about two weeks, we’ll work with the Heart and Stroke Foundation to order the units and the cabinets and everything that comes with them, and start installing them.”
An AED is a portable, user-friendly device that provides an electric shock when applied to a patient whose heart has stopped.
“The ones we’re getting can be used on children and adults, and you really can use them without any training,” said Beesley. “The shelf life could be many years — the issue is technology. We’ve got quite a few in the city right now that are several years old, and what they don’t have is the ability to communicate via a Wi-Fi signal.
“The new AEDs the city controls will all communicate with a centralized website that allows us to go on and check the health of the AEDs and see if they need replacing. The other thing it does is it connects to the PulsePoint app that allows anyone to pull that up on their smartphone and see exactly where AEDs are located anywhere in the city.”
Each AED will be registered with BC Emergency Health Services, which will have the locations of each unit handy when people call 911 dispatch in an emergency — reducing the time it takes to access one when needed.
In 2021, 8,300 people in BC suffered a cardiac arrest. The Heart and Stroke Foundation estimates more than 60,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests occur each year in Canada — one every nine minutes — and only one in 10 patients survive. But survival chances double when cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is combined with use of an AED.
The first phase of the project will determine which city-owned or operated buildings and facilities lack an AED or need a replacement. Beesley said there are about 30 locations in that category.
The second phase will involve businesses and non-city-owned buildings. The city is encouraging those entities to apply. Beesley said that could allow School District 57 to fill in gaps at schools that do not have AEDs. While all secondary schools and independent schools in the district have them, only two Prince George public elementary schools are currently equipped. (See related story on the Citizen website.)
“I can’t speak on behalf of the school district, but it would be something we would be communicating — to say this program is available,” said Beesley.
The third phase of the program will pay for AED and CPR training. All city employees will receive the training, and Beesley said local businesses will also be eligible to apply.
The program also provides replacement batteries and paddles for each unit, and the city will be responsible for ensuring each remains operational.
The other two cities that qualify for the pilot project have yet to be announced. Beesley said he doesn’t know how much of the $3.5-million budget will be set aside for Prince George.
Former MLA Shirley Bond oversees the Bill Bond Memorial Fund, named after her late husband, which has paid for the installation of dozens of AEDs in Prince George and the Robson Valley over the past four years.
Years before his death from a heart-related issue in June 2020, Bill was involved with Shirley in the Big Bike Ride team event to raise money for the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada. Through a partnership with the Prince George Community Foundation — https://www.pgcf.ca/programs/AED-Request-Bill-Bond-Memorial-Fund — the legacy fund continues to place AEDs in public spaces.
In April, the Prince George Rotary Hospice House and Knox Performance Centre were the latest recipients.
Bond tried unsuccessfully three times, while she was the Prince George–Valemount MLA, to get the Defibrillator Public Access Act private member’s bill passed into law. She vows to continue pushing the province to place AEDs in all public buildings in British Columbia.
“There does need to be greater political will at the provincial level to create a requirement to have AEDs in public spaces, and I’m hopeful the province will continue to look at their role in this,” said Bond.
Bond spoke at the Sept. 14 unveiling of the AED pilot project at Masich Place Stadium, where one of the machines paid for by the Bond Fund is now positioned. She said she looks forward to seeing more of them installed.
“We’ll continue to do our part — but we need a more systematic approach, and that requires AEDs in more public spaces,” said Bond. “We need to be creative on how we work on these kinds of projects, and we need to bring together healthcare workers, Heart and Stroke, elected officials and organizations that deal with the impacts of a loss of life.
“We have an opportunity in Prince George, where we have significant dollars through the pilot project, and I think it’s an important conversation to determine where the highest priorities for AED placement should be.”
