Wheatland Lodge up to date on lifesaving technology

Posted on: jamacsadmin

Shannon LeClair
Times Reporter
 
The Wheatland Lodge gained a much needed piece of equipment after receiving a generous donation from a local business. 
When Gray’s Excavating Ltd., heard that the Lodge didn’t have an Automated External Defibrillator, AED, they decided to purchase the machine for them. 
“It was a good thing to do for the older people in the community,” said Greg Mclean, owner/manager of Gray’s Ltd. 
An AED machine is a life saving tool that can diagnose life threatening cardiac arrhythmias of ventricular fibrillation and ventricular tachycardia in a patient. The machine is then able to treat them through defibrillation with electrical therapy that stops the arrhythmia giving the heart a chance to re-establish an effective rhythm.
“It’s for the seniors and visitors more than anything,” said Shirley Reinhardt, Chief Administrative Officer for Wheatland Housing. For the residents of Wheatland Lodge,she said, there is an immediate response from EMS if they ever put a call out.  
“It’s really a shame that we didn’t have (an AED) here sooner because it’s not about the residents as much, because they (EMS) are here within eight minutes and they do what is necessary,” said Reinhardt. 
She said one of the main concerns is there are so many visitors and staff who may be in need of first aid assistance. There is also the possibility if there is a big storm, they may need to use the AED while waiting for EMS. Now they will have a chance to do that.  
“Every facility should have (an AED) like this,” said Reinhardt.  
“This is the current standard in First Aid,” said Mark Gibeau, chair for Wheatland Housing. He said even if a facility does not have an AED, everyone who takes a first aid course is trained on how to use it. By the end of January all of the staff at Wheatland Housing will have completed their current first aid training. 
Randy Johnson has worked EMS for 20 years, and said getting an AED into the Lodge was long overdue.
“We’ve always been bugging the Wheatland Lodge that they should have an AED – because of course the older the population, the higher risk you are of having a heart attack or cardiac arrest,” said Johnson.
“You’re never going to save somebody from just doing CPR, you need early defibrillation. In fact with every minute that defibrillation is delayed you’re chance of survival goes down by 10 per cent, which is why there has been a big push to get the machines into the community.”
Johnson said many businesses in town do have them now. 
“There are more and more people, private individuals who are buying AED’s because they are user friendly.”  
The first AED was originally created by American biomedical engineer Joshua L. Koelker and Italian emergency medical professional Jordan M. Blondino. The two men designed and created the machine to all defibrillation in public places where it may take some time for emergency personal to respond to. Over time the AED has become even easier to use and even speaks to the user, guiding them through the process, though proper training is still recommended.