Cornwall SD&G Emergency Medical Services has secured 15 new Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) through funding from the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario, bringing the total in the area to 106.

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Cornwall - Mar. 8, 2011 - Cornwall SD&G Emergency Medical Services has secured 15 new Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) through funding from the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario, bringing the total in the area to 106.

Applications from across the province were submitted, evaluated and allocated to communities based on several criteria including local need, response times, cardiac survival rates and local readiness to support the program.

The Heart and Stroke Foundation has requested that all 15 new AEDs be installed in high schools within the community. So far, five units have already been installed, and it's expected the remainder of the units will be installed shortly.

Approximately 45,000 cardiac arrests occur in Canada every year. Less than 5 per cent survive. However, when defibrillation is applied with CPR in the first few minutes, it can dramatically improve the chance of survival by up to 75 per cent.

"Survival from cardiac arrest is related to how quickly CPR begins after collapse and when early defibrillation with an AED is delivered within the first few minutes," said Brad Nuttley, emergency management and community safety coordinator. "We are very excited about the potential of this announcement to save lives."