An automated external defibrillator will now be at Nanaimo’s Beban Park Four Fields.
The Heart and Stroke Foundation donated a defibrillator to Nanaimo as part of its B.C. Public Access to Defibrillation Program. The initiative is a partnership between the foundation and the B.C. Ministry of Health and will see 750 defibrillators installed in public venues across the province. There will also be an education campaign to help people recognize signs of sudden cardiac arrest and learn how to respond.
“We're placing AEDs where there is the greatest chance they'll save a life,”said Shelley Parker, the foundation’s B.C. and Yukon resuscitation program manager. “Beban Park Four Fields was selected ... because it is a place where large numbers of people gather on a regular basis and where the chances of someone experiencing sudden cardiac arrest could be elevated.”
Defibrillators are portable devices that read the heart rhythm and can deliver a shock to restart the heart if needed.