New defibrillators help save lives

[five_alarm]

REGINA, SK – Saskatchewan's first response team got a little bigger last week. Two defibrillators are now online to serve the town of Birch Hills and surrounding rural municipalities in the province's northwest. Lyle Karasiuk, spokesperson for Parkland Ambulance Services, says the new defibrillators will help paramedics save lives. Under the Public Access to Defibrillators program, businesses, medical clinics and malls will train their staff to use the machines. Karasiuk says having people ready to act saves lives. He adds that the first thing people should do is call 911. But once they've done that, the newly trained defibrillator operators can take action. "If someone were to collapse from a sudden cardiac arrest, these sites would be activiated and trained responders would step into their role [to] provide the necessary care and treatment until the paramedics arrive."

Source: sask.cbc.ca (http://www.firehall.com/refer.php?url=http://sask.cbc.ca/regionalnews/caches/sk_defibrillators20041227.html&linkid=1257&parent=news(headlines)&)

[JGallagher]

I have taken the course with the City Police. I must admit the use of the AED is dummy proof. We saw a training video of the instructors 8-year old daughter and she was able to operate it. If you can take the course do so!!