What brings young and old alike out early on a Saturday morning?
Here in Dufferin County it’s free CPR and Automatic External Defibrillator training.
This February in celebration of heart month, several community groups came together to offer free Basic CPR and Automatic External Defibrillator training to anyone interested. Despite the early start on a Saturday, the training attracted over 80 keen to learn residents to Orangeville District Secondary School. Local training sessions such as this one led by Ryan Hoogendoorn from St. John’s Ambulance in partnership with local paramedics, Tom Reid and Paul DePrinse have resulted in over 300 local people trained on CPR and the use of an AED. It is important to note however that an AED can be used by someone with no training as the units are equipped with voice commands and utilise a step by step process. Community partners, The County of Dufferin, the Town of Orangeville, PAWS (Public and Workplace Safety) Emergency Training, St. John’s Ambulance, and the Heart and Stroke Foundation contributed to this training session.
40 Automatic External Defibrillator’s in place around our community
The Dufferin Ambulance service will agree that several lives have already been saved by the over 40 AED’s in place around the County in our public arenas, libraries, town halls and many of our schools. These units typically cost $1500 each and have been acquired through generous grants or donations. Each unit is registered with the 911 emergency service and many are maintained and serviced by the Dufferin County Ambulance service.
Public Access Defibrillator (PAD) Program
Dufferin County residents can be proud of the work our paramedics do on the AED Public Access Defibrillator (PAD) Program, but they are also the top ambulance service in the province according to the Ministry of Health. At a recent review required by the Ministry of Health, several inspectors spent ten days auditing all aspects of the service from truck maintenance to patient outcomes and gave the Dufferin Ambulance service the highest rating ever given to any ambulance service since the inception of the review process. So you are in good hands here in Dufferin.