Defibrillators

The school board approved the first reading of the policy during a school board meeting earlier this month.

Board member Dave McCool questioned whether the devices are worth the trouble of acquiring them.

“Is the benefit of these things worth all of the work to accept them?

” McCool said.

Even though the school district hasn’t yet had an incident where one is needed, proponents say it’s worth having equipment handy that could save someone’s life.

“If you save one person then it’s worth it,” said Bruce Worley, school district operations director.

Prior to the board’s decision, school administrators had to make sure there are enough people properly trained to use the Worley said at least five employees at each of the secondary schools have to be trained to use the equipment.

Fortunately, there are approximately 40 people between the three schools that underwent CPR training that included defibrillator use.

The devices are portable and can be brought to athletic events should an emergency arise.

The only maintenance for the equipment is the batteries which have to be replaced every y...

Derek Dang introduced a motion at last week’s community safety committee meeting to begin a pilot program at Richmond Ice Centre and Minoru Arenas to test the medical devices in civic facilities.

Staff had recommended not taking any further action due to a lack of internationally-recognized standards.

A defibrillator is a medical device that uses an electrical shock to restore a heart attack victim’s normal heartbeat.

Dang said from his experience playing recreational hockey several years ago, “old guys...feel like they’re 14 years old again” when suited up for a game.

He knew of two incidents where a player’s heart has failed.

“It will give us some idea of how it will work in some of the community centres and other places we have,” he said.

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