By Cecilia Nasmith

Offering safety in time of family crisis is the mission for Cornerstone Family Violence Prevention Centre.

Now, thanks to the donation of an Automated External Defibrillator from AED manufacturer Zoll Canada and Northumberland Paramedics, they can provide care in times of acute cardiac emergency.

Paramedics chief Bill Detlor and superintendent Marcelle Read were at Cornerstone Tuesday morning to make the presentation and offer a demonstration of a cardiac-arrest scenario.

Though the AED is a wonder of technology, Cornerstone executive director Nancy Johnston found, it is remarkably easy to use with its pre-recorded verbal prompts.

“Don't touch the patient – analyzing,” is fairly self-explanatory. Then, when information is received through the pads and assessed, it will select the right moment to say, “Shock advised,” which is when you push the red button, followed by, “Shock delivered. Start CPR.”

Because the CPR is as important as the shock, added Zoll representative, Natalie McRae, the AED audibly guides you through that part of the process. An audible beeper will provide the suggested rhythm for compression, and it will advise you if it is best for you to push harder.

“It will tell you what to do and walk you through it,” McRae said.
“If you are doing a great job, it will even tell you you are doing a great job,” Read added.

There is also an exterior feature where an illuminated green check mark indicates everything is okay, and a red X means the unit needs attention as soon as possible.

Having a Zoll brand is a plus, Read noted.

“A lot of our fire department and paramedic units are using Zoll, so responders can simply unplug from your machine and plug into ours – there's that continuity of care,” she said.

For best results, Detlor suggested Cornerstone train multiple staffers in CPR, which Johnston said has already been done (including receptionist and relief staff, she added).

“Anybody can reach for one of these off the wall in case of emergency, and the Good Samaritan Act protects them. But if people are recently trained, their confidence comes along with that,” Read said.

Though the training has been done, she continued, they do recommend a dry-run sort of orientation and demonstration of the equipment for staff just to increase their familiarity with it. Johnston agreed this was a good idea.

The donation to Cornerstone, valued at $2,000, includes the unit as well as two sets of adult pads and one set of children's pads – and Read pointed out that they do have a shelf life.

The pads have an expiry date because they can lose their adhesiveness as a result of the gel that provides that quality breaking down under certain circumstances, McCrae said. And the battery that powers the unit should be replaced every five years.

Not to worry, Read added – part of the program is that Northumberland Paramedics supports these units even after they are donated, keeping track of expiry dates and providing replacements.

“It's part of our on-going commitment to bring the technology into the community to increase the chances of saving lives,” Detlor said.

“Early defibrillation is the most important thing. Without that, chances of recovery diminish by 10% every minute, and there comes a time when compression efforts tend to be futile.”

Detlor expressed his thanks to McRae for Zoll's support of this important service.

Read said that any organization interested in getting such a donation can submit a request to the Public Access Defibrillator program on the county website. The equipment that they have to donate is made available both through sponsorship from Zoll and the paramedics' own fundraising efforts. As for selecting recipients, she continued, the process tends to favour nonprofit public-service agencies (like Cornerstone) and public places where large numbers tend to gather (such as hockey arenas).

Detlor estimates the program has put perhaps 90 units in public places throughout the county, and he believes the difference can be measured in numbers - whereas the typical survival rate for acute cardiac incidents is 7% to 8%, that rate rises to 17% to 18% in Cobourg.

“This can be completely attributed to education, people getting involved, and the fact that we are getting quite a few of these AEDs out in the community,” he said.

“We are certainly very grateful for this amazing contribution to our organization,” Johnston stated.

“It's really important, because we want to work to enhance the safety and well-being of our staff and clients.”

While one hopes it will never be used, she added, “should a situation ever arise, we will be well prepared, thanks to the Northumberland Paramedics and Zoll.”