Essex-Windsor EMS hopes new app can spark a surge in AED mapping, installations
The Essex-Windsor EMS is turning to smartphone tech to map lifesaving automatic external defibrillators (AEDs) in the region as new legislation is set to make mapping mandatory.
Chief Justin Lammers is encouraging residents in Windsor and Essex County to use the PulsePoint app to map and register defibrillators across the region.
“Minutes matter when it comes to instances of cardiac arrest,” said Lammers in a news release. “If you’re a resident, help us map these lifesaving devices so bystanders can access them quickly when an emergency arises.”
Mapping and maintaining publicly accessible defibrillators will be a requirement when Ontario’s Bill 141 comes into full effect.
Officials report there are roughly 560 defibrillators around Windsor-Essex that have been registered, but many more have gone unregistered.
Knowing whether or not there is an AED nearby can be vital for 911 dispatchers sending first responders to an emergency situation.
“All of us have the ability to save a life,” said Hilda MacDonald, the Essex County Warden. “The key is ensuring all our public access defibrillators are mapped and registered and we are calling on the residents of Windsor-Essex to help up us achieve this lifesaving goal.”
CARDIAC CHAMPION
On Thursday, Lakeshore business owner Paul Giberson was recognized as a Cardiac Champion by Essex-Windsor EMS for his efforts to train employees at Post Packaging to use the devices.
Giberson bought an AED for his workplace.
“The idea that for a small investment of money and time our business can be better equipped and trained to save just one life is the best return on investment decision I may make,” said Giberson. “We plan to continue training as many team members as possible.”
Chief Lammers calls him an example for other businesses to follow and hopes to see a surge of new installations across the region.
The PulsePoint app is free to use and authenticates the locations of public defibrillators to be included in the Windsor Central Ambulance Communications Centre to allow for rapid retrieval.
“Instances of cardiac arrest can happen anywhere at any time and we can all help each other by being better prepared,” said Lammers.
An AED is an easy-to-used tool that can restart a person’s heart if it has stopped beating. Essex-Windsor EMS reports survival rates following cardiac arrest dramatically improve if a defibrillator shock is received by the victim within three minutes of collapse – and decrease every minute after that.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
DEVELOPING Latest updates on the major wildfires burning in Canada
The 2024 wildfire season has begun, and it's shaping up to follow last year's unprecedented destruction in kind, with thousands of square kilometres already consumed.
Veteran TSN sportscaster Darren Dutchyshen has died
Veteran TSN broadcaster Darren 'Dutch' Dutchyshen, one of Canada’s best-known sports journalists, has died. He was 57. His family says 'he passed as he was surrounded by his closest loved ones.'
Toronto man killed his mother and decapitated her — but it wasn't murder, lawyers argue
A ‘lifetime of abuse’ led Dallas Ly to snap and repeatedly stab his mother inside their Leslieville apartment in 2022 but he never intended to kill her, his defence lawyers argued during at his murder trial in Toronto on Thursday.
He had dreams of running for Canada in the Olympics, then he learned his family would be deported
A burgeoning track star says his dream of going to the Olympics is being derailed by a deportation order after Immigration officials rejected his family’s claim for asylum
Father charged with second-degree murder in daughter's stabbing death southwest of Montreal
A father has been charged with second-degree murder in the stabbing death of his 34-year-old daughter in southern Quebec.
Teen died from eating a spicy chip as part of social media challenge, autopsy report concludes
A medical examiner says a Massachusetts teen who participated in a spicy tortilla chip challenge died from ingesting a substance 'with a high capsaicin concentration.'
Kidnapped by her father and kept in a crawl space: Court documents reveal Montreal horror story
A Montreal father who kidnapped his daughter who has autism and lied to police when they asked where she was should serve three years in prison, a Crown prosecutor said.
Ontario calls on Toronto to drop 'disastrous' drug decriminalization request
The province’s health minister and solicitor general are urging Toronto to rescind its request to decriminalize simple possession of small amounts of drugs for personal use, calling the proposal 'misguided' and 'disastrous.'
Pierre Poilievre presses Justin Trudeau for summer pause on carbon and fuel taxes
To give Canadians a break on their summer road trips, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is calling on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to suspend all gas and diesel taxes from Victoria Day to Labour Day.