Every New Brunswick public school to be equipped with life-saving defibrillators

Health Minister Bruce Fitch, left, Heart and Stroke New Brunswick CEO Kurtis Sisk and Education Minister Bill Hogan are pictured at an announcement that defibrillators will be installed in every public school in the province. (Derek Haggett/CTV)

Every public school in New Brunswick will soon have automated external defibrillators (AEDs), which can help restart a person’s heart during a cardiac arrest, according to the province.

The move will see defibrillators placed in the 49 schools that didn’t already have one, under a partnership between the province and the Heart and Stroke Foundation of New Brunswick.

“Public schools play a central role as gathering places for all age groups in communities across the province,” said New Brunswick Health Minister Bruce Fitch in a Wednesday news release. “This investment in AEDs means every community with a school now has access to this life-saving equipment.”

The cost of installing all 49 AEDs is about $175,000.

Bill Hogan, the province’s education and early childhood development minister, says equipping all public schools with the devices will make the facilities safer for students, staff and anyone who may attend the schools for community events.

“We are proud to have partnered with the Heart and Stroke Foundation of New Brunswick to accomplish this milestone,” said Hogan in the release.

Cardiac arrest results from electrical disturbances that cause the heart to suddenly stop beating properly.

In cardiac arrest, death can result quickly if steps aren't taken immediately. Survival rates drop significantly without an AED or cardio-pulmonary resuscitation (CPR). When AEDs are used in combination with CPR within the first few minutes, the province says the chances of survival can double.

Dr. Michel D’Astous, a cardiologist at the Dr. Georges-L.-Dumont University Hospital Centre in Moncton, says he has seen the impact AEDs can have when used promptly.

“It is a matter of life and death, and today we can celebrate that every school in our province is helping to close a gap in the delivery of emergency medical services,” said D’Astous in the release.

Kurtis Sisk, CEO of the New Brunswick Heart and Stroke Foundation, says his team has placed 471 AEDs in communities throughout the province, thanks to the generosity of many donors.

“We are proud that some of those units have already been used by heroic bystanders to save the lives of many New Brunswickers,” said Sisk in the release.

“With this announcement, we are not only able to make AEDs more accessible to more people, but we are also spreading awareness about the vital impact of this life-saving tool.”

The province estimates that more than 700 cardiac arrests happen each year in New Brunswick.

With files from CNN Digital