Staff at North Shore arenas can step in and make the save - of a life, that is - using recently installed portable defibrillators that can restart a heart during a cardiac arrest.
The North Shore Winter Club and Canlan Ice Sports North Shore have between them received 20 AEDs (automated external defibrillators) under a federal government grant program in partnership with the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada. The goal is to have 2,000 of these life-saving devices installed in arenas across the country, including some on the North Shore, by next spring. Somebody collapses from cardiac arrest every 12 minutes in Canada. By immediately using an AED on the victim, it can increase the chance of survival by 75 per cent or more when combined with CPR. This data has led the Heart and Stroke Foundation to set a collapse-to-defibrillation target of three minutes.
At the NSWC, having 17 of these AEDs benefits more than just the hockey programs, explains director of operations Tony DiGiovanni. The defibrillators are spread throughout the 200,000-square-foot bustling facility, which is laid out like a large campus and contains four buildings that house a Montessori school, two swimming pools, racketball courts and the arenas.
"When we heard about the grant, we said, 'Let's get a few more (AEDs) so we can put them in key locations,'" said DiGiovanni.
Every second counts during a cardiac arrest. By virtue of being a sports facility, and one that has a large elderly clientele, the NSWC knows there is a good chance the AEDs might save a life one day.
"In any area where a lot of people exercise vigorously there is always a higher risk," said DiGiovanni.
Since receiving the AEDs, a total of 30 NSWC staff and club members have been fully trained by certified first responders on how to use the devices, which have simplified audio and video instructions laid out on the screen.
"With the adrenalin going in an emergency, it's nice to have that training under your belt," added DiGiovanni.
Meanwhile, Karen Magnussen and Harry Jerome recreation centres will soon be receiving additional AEDs, which will be placed in the facilities' common areas.
"It means that very important and easy-to-use tools are available to the public should something occur where staff is not said Trish Holme, recreation co-ordinator at the North Vancouver Recreation and Culture Commission. "It provides that next step of safety for (facility) users."
An AED was put into action at a Burnaby arena earlier this month, when bystanders saved the life of a 50-year-old father who had collapsed from a cardiac arrest.
The stats on cardiac arrest are clear, according to Chris Metcalfe, owner of North Vancouver-based MediQuest Technologies, which is supplying some of the AEDs under the grant program. "For every minute after a person's heart stops, the survival rate drops by 10 per cent," he says.
Other facilities where physical activity occurs - tennis clubs, public golf courses, curling clubs and soccer organizations, for example - will also be equipped with AEDs under the federal program. Schools are currently not eligible for the federal AED funding.
"We are hoping the program will expand to include schools," Metcalfe said, explaining students have died in gym class or while playing sports when no AED was nearby.
That exact scenario played out at Argyle secondary in 2005 when a 15-year-old student, who had an undiagnosed heart condition, collapsed from cardiac arrest during gym class and later died in hospital. A few years later someone in the community offered to donate a defibrillator to Argyle, but it was rejected by the North Vancouver school district, which cited reasons including expensive maintenance costs and its inability to put AEDs in the other schools. The school district also said it was an unusual incident, the teen's sudden death, and that the risk against the AED price didn't balance out.
With a government subsidy, an AED can cost less than $1,300 per school, outside of training and maintenance fees.
"So you are looking at about the cost of a laptop computer," says Metcalfe.
Today the school district's position remains the same that it takes direction from WorkSafe BC and the education ministry in terms of requirements for safety devices in schools.
"It's really an ongoing review and research that continues from year to year," said school district spokeswoman Victoria Miles. "In the meantime, demographic and risk factors are relatively unchanged in school populations, and our close proximity to excellent emergency response services remains a constant."
In 2013, the West Vancouver School District set aside $45,000 to purchase AEDs. To date, 19 AEDs have been installed - 17 for school sites, one for a facilities building, and another for the school board office.
