Every year, more than 2,000 people in B.C. die from sudden heart attacks, according to the provincial Health Ministry.
To prevent up to 75 per cent of these unnecessary deaths, the provincial government and the Heart & Stroke Foundation are each funding $1 million for a program aimed at increasing public access to automated external defibrillators (AEDs).
Over the next two years, 450 of these life-saving devices will be installed in venues where large numbers of people regularly gather, and where the chances of an individual experiencing sudden cardiac arrest could be more likely.
These include community centres, arenas, recreation centres, playing fields and sports centres.
The current survival rate for an out-of-hospital sudden cardiac arrest is only about five per cent, but this number jumps to 75 per cent if a defibrillator is used within five minutes of a heart attack, according to the ministry.
An AED is a portable device anyone can use to deliver an electric shock to restart a heart. The device reads the heart rhythm and only delivers a shock if needed.
For more information, visit www.BCPADProgram. ca.
