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New AED donated to Comox Community Centre

The cost of a publicly accessible AED is approximately $2,000
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The Comox Firefighters Association has added a publicly accessible automated external defibrillator (AED) at the Comox Community Centre. Photo submitted

The Comox Firefighters Association has added a publicly accessible automated external defibrillator (AED) at the Comox Community Centre.

The new unit replaces an older model located inside the facility. The Comox Firefighters Association receives many requests each year and assesses each request to determine which ones they can assist. The firefighters plan on adding three or four new AEDs every year.

The cost of a publicly accessible AED is approximately $2,000, and the association also provides free cardiopulmonary resuscitation and AED training to community members.

“It is great to see more and more public access to AED available throughout our community,” said Gord Schreiner, the Town’s fire chief.

“I am proud of our firefighters for their ongoing support of this important project. We have now assisted with placing over 60 AEDs in our area. Our firefighters have invested over $80,000 non-taxpayer dollars into this program over the past 10 years.”

Sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) can strike at any time - during work, while at church, or while visiting a local business. Fewer than 10 per cent of SCA victims typically survive, but studies show that 30 to 50 per cent would likely survive if CPR and AEDs were used within five minutes of collapse.

Communities across the country are responding by implementing public access defibrillation programs. Typically, public access defibrillation programs include both CPR and AED training.

Comox Fire Rescue knows the value of AEDs and equips a unit on all their emergency vehicles and a mounted one inside the fire station.

For more information on the publicly accessible AED program and training programs, contact Comox Fire Rescue at firehall@comox.ca.



photos@comoxvalleyrecord.com

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