For immediate release
May 10, 2011
Ambulance NB Paramedics Provide AED Training to MLAs
FREDERICTON, NB – Members of the Legislative Assembly received special training today from Ambulance New Brunswick paramedics on how to use an automated external defibrillator (AED).
The MLAs were shown how an AED works, where the AED is situated in the Legislative Assembly and why it is so important to know how to use it. A CPR demo was also done during the training session. This event, which was held at the Legislative Assembly, was a prelude to National EMS Week, which runs from May 15 to 21.
“Today’s training was an opportunity for MLAs to have greater appreciation for the training and skills New Brunswick’s paramedics bring to their very important role in New Brunswick’s health system,” said Health Minister Madeleine Dubé. “It was also a chance to demonstrate the importance of education and training in medical emergencies.”
“We are pleased to provide AED training to the MLAs in our continued efforts to help build a cardiac safe province,” says Alan Stephen, President and CEO of Ambulance New Brunswick. “Should an emergency occur, the MLAs will now know where the AED is installed and will be able to intervene quickly which is essential to improving survival rate.”
In New Brunswick alone, approximately 1,200 cardiac arrests occur annually in out-of-hospital settings. Defibrillation can improve cardiac arrest survival rates from 5% to 50 percent if delivered in the first few minutes.
An AED is a portable electronic device that is able to determine whether the victim of a cardiac arrest would benefit from defibrillation. AEDs are lightweight, battery-operated portable devices that are safe and easy to use. Each unit comes with instructions and the device will give voice prompts to let you know if and when you should send a shock to the heart.
AEDs strengthen the chain of survival. They can restore a normal heart rhythm in sudden cardiac arrest victims. When a person suffers a sudden cardiac arrest, for each minute that passes without defibrillation, the chance of survival decreases by 7 to 10 percent.
All provinces in Canada have Good Samaritan laws, giving immunity to volunteer rescuers who use AEDs in an emergency.
Ambulance New Brunswick was created by the Government of New Brunswick in 2007 to deliver a world-class land, air and emergency dispatch ambulance service throughout the province. Nearly 1,000 professionals are employed by ANB as paramedics, emergency medical dispatchers and flight nurses. ANB responds to nearly 100,000 calls on a yearly basis, traveling more than nine million kilometres across the province. The air ambulance service performs more than 500 emergency calls every year, transporting sick and injured patients to specialized hospital care across the Maritimes and as far as Toronto and Montreal.
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