St. John Ambulance working to provide 1,000 life saving defibrillators across BC

St.John Ambulance is moving forward with its campaign to install 1,000 publicly accessible automated external defibrillators (AEDs) across BC.

The ‘Start Me Up BC’ campaign is working to put AED’s in hotspots in many communities across the province, including Prince George.

“Every year in BC around 6,000 people die of sudden Cardiac Arrest,” explained Ken Leggatt, Interim CEO of BC/Yukon St. John’s Ambulance, “lots of businesses have already purchased AED’s but if something happens outside business hours there are very few available.”

Bystander use of an AED, along with CPR, increases the chance of survival of sudden cardiac arrest upwards of 75%, according to St.John Ambulance. 

Leggatt says the campaign not only advocates for more publically available AED’s but also raises awareness for sudden cardiac arrest.

While Leggatt couldn’t tell exactly how many AED’s would be provided in Prince George, he says they would ideally be placed in areas such as strip malls and bus stops.

“Really having AED’s available in close proximity to high proximity areas is important because people getting access to an AED really quickly is key because it can reduce the time a person suffering cardiac arrest goes without oxygen to the brain,” he noted.

St.John is now looking for community feedback to determine where and how many AED’s are required in each community.

“Many BC organizations are contacting St.John and asking for AED’s in specific spots,” he noted, “for example, the Rotary Club in Richmond asked for two AED’s at their Sky Train station and so that was really generated by the community base.”

He is now advising anyone interested in the program to visit the St John Ambulance website or Start Me Up BC website, where they are accepting feedback and donations for the campaign.