Two outdoor defibrillator stations were unveiled at two locations in Barrie on Tuesday. Brian Westgarth-Taylor is living proof that defibrillators can save a life when seconds count. “I took seven hits from the defib. I was given a three percent chance of survival, and that was twenty years ago,” he says. SaveStation towers equipped with automated external defibrillators were installed outside city hall near the skating rink and at Georgian College’s J.C. Massie Field. “In terms of peace of mind, it confirms we can help anyone in distress,” says the college’s manager of athletics, Michele McConney. In Canada, 40-thousand people suffer cardiac arrest every year with a majority of those occurring at home or in a public place. The survival rate is 75 percent when a defibrillator is used within the first 10 minutes. The project to install the lifesaving towers was two-years in the making. Action First Aid is behind the initiative. “It allows us to get this product closer to people in busy places,” says Debb Henning. Jamie Massie sponsored both units, which cost approximately $8,000 each. “I hope the community picks up on this, and we put them everywhere because they do save lives, and it’s just saving that one person’s life that makes it all worthwhile,” says Massie.
