Vancouver Island grocery chain Quality Foods has made its stores’ life-saving automatic external defibrillators available to the public, by registering with the B.C. Public Access to Defibrillation Program.
The company maintains the devices in the 12 communities where it operates stores, including its Nanaimo North Ridge Centre, Bowen Road and University Village Mall locations.
As part of the new program, a number of employees in each location have been trained on the devices, supplemented with CPR basics.
“Information from the Heart and Stroke Foundation tells us that when an AED and CPR are immediately available in certain heart-related circumstances, the patient’s situation is substantially improved,” said Ken Schley, a Quality Foods founding member.
“So this is one more way that we can give back to our communities, from the perspective of aiding 911 dispatchers, first responders and the general public.”
Automated external defibrillators are small, portable devices that identify cardiac rhythms and deliver a shock to correct abnormal electrical activity in the heart.