Saskatchewan Blue Cross Proudly Supports Saskatoon Heart Safe

The below news release is from Saskatoon Heart Safe. 

They say good luck comes in three’s, but in this case luck had nothing to do with it. Three lives were saved in the last three weeks thanks to owners who purchased Automated External Defibrillator’s (AED’s) for their businesses and are a part of the Saskatoon Heart Safe Program. They also ensured their employees knew where the machines were located and how to apply it. Medavie Health Services West (MHS West) is thrilled to announce that in the last three weeks three lives have been saved.

The first Cardiac Arrest occurred May 12th at 2:50pm when Paramedics responded to 69 year old male Dwight Wittal from Martensville. He was driving at low speeds in Martensville when he went into cardiac arrest, luckily this occurred in front of local business Wrench Fitness. The owner of the business and a patron came to Dwight’s aid with an AED and shocked him once. Dwight was released from hospital and states his only complaint is sore ribs from the CPR, Dwight agreed to release his name to the media as he wants to get the message out to the public that AED’s save lives.

The second Cardiac Arrest occurred May 24th at 1:17pm when Paramedics responded to a 79 year old male playing basketball at Zion Lutheran Church located in Saskatoon. The male patient was shocked once on scene by the AED and brought back to life. The 79 year old is currently recovering at RUH.

The third Cardiac Arrest occurred June 8th at 8:57pm at the Nutana Legion located in Saskatoon. A 74 year old male was attending a wedding and collapsed while dancing, the staff immediately applied the AED on site and shocked the patient once. The patient was awake and talking when Paramedics arrived on scene and is currently recovering at RUH.

“We have had a tremendous amount of success with our Heart Safe Program, currently we have over 1000 businesses who are registered, and have saved 33 lives which is the most in North America. The ages of the patients saved range from 34-79 years of age” states Troy Davies, Director of Public Affairs MHS West. “We feel that AED’s are like fire extinguishers and should be in every building as cardiac arrests can occur at any time in any place. Thanks to our partners that include Saskatchewan Health Authority, Saskatchewan Blue Cross, and Ens Auto we are able to visit every Heart Safe site each year to ensure the batteries in the AED are charged and the electrodes have not expired. The bottom line is 33 people have been brought back to life and are back with their loved ones and that’s really all that matters”.

In Saskatoon, some of the locations where residents have been saved include Jemini and Schroh arenas, Holiday Park Golf Course, Saskatoon Airport, Lakewood Civic Centre, Holy Cross School, Saskatoon Golf and Country Club, TCU Place and Costco just to name a few.

If you are a business who has an AED and would like to become registered visit www.saskatoonheartsafe.com or call 306-374-SAFE.