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AED in the News

Simcoe County’s Defibrillator Program and the Heart and Stroke Foundation Team Up to Save a Young Boy’s Life

October, 2009, Simcoe County, ON

A 13- year old male student attending James Keating Elementary School is alive today thanks to the partnership between the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario and the County of Simcoe Paramedic Services.

OPP Officiers with young boy

One moment, Bradon Koskitalo was in gym class, running across one of his school's athletic fields. The next, he was lying lifeless on the ground. His heart had suddenly stopped beating. 

With only seconds to spare, quick thinking classmates and staff from the school immediately called 9-1-1 and began CPR and called for the Automated External Defibrillator (AED) that had been placed at Brandon's school the previous year. The Southern Georgian Bay OPP arrived on the scene within a minute of the call. OPP Constable Robin Chiasson was first to arrive and she quickly utilized the AED to shock Brandon's heart while her partner Constable Peter Hunter continued CPR until Paramedics arrived minutes later. The County of Simcoe Paramedic Services arrived and confirmed it: Brandon had a pulse.

Today, Brandon is a healthy grade 8 student, thanks to the quick access to a defibrillator, people trained in CPR, our generous donors and Public Access Program partners. "I am only here because everyone did what they were supposed to do correctly. I am lucky to be here," he says.

The placement of the AED at the James Keating Elementary School was directed by the County of Simcoe Paramedic Services Public Access Defibrillation Program and made possible by the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario’s Heart&Stroke Restart a Heart, a Life Program and the Chase McEachern Tribute Fund. This AED was put in place on March 4, 2008.

The placement of the AED at the James Keating Elementary School was directed by the County of Simcoe Paramedic Services Public Access Defibrillation Program and made possible by the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario’s Heart&Stroke Restart a Heart, a Life Program and the Chase McEachern Tribute Fund. This AED was put in place on March 4, 2008.

According to the Heart and Stroke Foundation, up to 85 percent of cardiac arrests occur at home or in public places and almost half are witnessed by a family member or friend. In Ontario alone, approximately 7,000 out-of hospital sudden cardiac arrests occur annually. The survival rate of victims for an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest is a dismal five percent. However, CPR performed by a bystander while the emergency medical team is on its way quadruples a person’s chance of being successfully resuscitated. Furthermore, defibrillation when used in conjunction with CPR in the first few minutes can dramatically improve cardiac arrest survival rates by more than 50 percent.

“Since our son’s death due to complications from a cardiac arrest our family has worked with the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario to ensure that every community across the province is cardiac safe,” says John McEachern. “I urge you to donate to fundraising efforts like the Heart&Stroke Chase McEachern Memorial Golf for Heart Tournament and Heart&Stroke Hockey for Heart Tournament, so that we can quickly place AEDs in the remaining 30 schools in SCDSB.”

 “It is no doubt, that the combination of CPR and the Automated External Defibrillator saves lives,” says Warden Tony Guergis. “I am very proud of the role that the County of Simcoe Paramedic Services played in making this is a great day for this young student, his family and the school officials whose quick access to a defibrillator truly made a difference.”

“This result is a testament to what can be accomplished with community partnerships," says Andrew Robert, Director and Chief, County of Simcoe Paramedic Services. "The County of Simcoe Public Access Defibrillation program along with partners in the police, municipalities, school boards, the Heart and Stroke Foundation, the Chase McEachern Tribute Fund and the community at large has now helped three people to go home to their families. We are very pleased to be a link in this chain of survival.”

Ontario has the largest number of publicly allocated Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) in Canada and 226 of these AEDs are located in the County of Simcoe.

Brandon's aunt, Sherry Bryant, knows firsthand the power of everyone's support. "Brandon and our families just moved from Windsor, and they didn't have an AED in his school there," she said. "If it wasn't for an AED being in the school, we don't know where he'd be. We're just so thankful."