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AED in the News

Hockey Player’s Survival Credited to Defibrillator at Arena in Alberta

October 30, 2008, Edmonton, Alberta

A 58-year-old Edmonton man is alive to tell his story of surviving a cardiac arrest, thanks to quick-thinking teammates and a public automated external defibrillator (AED).

Trevor Forest was taking a break between hockey scrimmages at the NAIT arena around 10 p.m. on October 14 when he slouched over and turned blue. Teammates rushed to his side to perform CPR and administered one shock with the arena’s AED prior to paramedics’ arrival.

Hockey Players in Edmonton Alberta

“It's an incredible feeling to realize that I'm still here,” said Forest. “They played the ultimate game with my life as the prize.”

"CPR will improve a patient's chance for survival but the victim's heart must be shocked back into normal rhythm with a defibrillator or the patient will likely die," said cardiologist Dr. Evan Lockwood of the Mazankowski Alberta Heart Institute. "There is no doubt that this patient is alive today because his heart was defibrillated quickly."

The public defibrillator at the NAIT arena is part of the Edmonton Heart-Safe program, a partnership between Edmonton Emergency Medical Services (EMS), Alberta Health Services and the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Alberta, NWT & Nunavut. Trevor is the first person to survive resuscitation by an Edmonton Heart-Safe public defibrillator.

“This wonderful survivor story endorses the fact that early, effective defibrillation does work,” said Mike Hoffman, Manager, Resuscitation Education for the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Alberta, NWT & Nunavut. “We want to save more lives and we can do that by placing more AEDs in our communities.”

“NAIT has believed in the importance of the Heart-Safe program from the moment we first heard about it,” said George Andrews, VP of External Relations and CDO at NAIT. “We are thankful we had an AED on site that saved Trevor’s life and we commend the NAIT staff hockey team who raised the funds to purchase this particular unit earlier this spring.”

NAIT became an Edmonton Heart-Safe site in February 2008. The Institute currently has eight AEDs at the main campus and one at each of the Patricia and Souch campuses. They are already looking to purchase additional AEDs for their campuses.

“Medical emergencies can happen anywhere and timely care is often critical to patient’s survival,” said Joe Acker, Chief of Edmonton EMS. “We respond to more than 700 cardiac arrests in the community every year. Through the Heart-Safe program, we put the right tool in the hands of bystanders to provide that care before paramedics arrive.”