The Saint Mary’s Secondary School senior girls’ volleyball team is getting a crash course on CPR and lifesaving defibrillators, thanks to the family of Tyson Downs, an Owen Sound teenager who died from sudden cardiac arrest two years ago. “We lost Tyson in the summer of 2023 to a sudden cardiac event. And, along with my wife and Tyson’s family, we wanted to put some good back into the community. So, all we do is offer a free CPR and AED course. It’s very basic. They learn very basic skills on what to do in case of a sudden cardiac emergency,” explained Tyson’s uncle, Shawn Krueger. Since Tyson passed away in his sleep, an AED wouldn’t have helped him, but it could help someone else, says Krueger. That’s why they are in support of the AED Foundation, an organization currently tasked with creating a virtual location registry of all the AEDs in Ontario and linking that to the 911 emergency system. “When someone calls 911 and there’s a sudden cardiac arrest, then they will be told where the closest AED is. And right now, that that is not in place. So right now, when you call, they basically say, ‘Do you know where your closest AED is?’ A lot of people don’t know,” said AED Foundation Chair, Roberta Scott. It’s no small task to locate the estimated 50 to 60,000 AEDs in Ontario. Paramedics have a very good idea, and the AED Foundation has used them to help map out thousands of defibrillators. But Scott says they need everyone with an AED in their business, school, arena or daycare to let them know so it can be linked to 911, because seconds matter in an emergency. “When you do CPR and use an AED in a sudden cardiac arrest, the chances of survival go up to about 50, 60, sometimes 70 per cent,” explains Scott. “It really makes a huge difference.” The clock is literally ticking on the AED registry project. Scott says they will be linking 911 to the AED locations they know about early in the new year. “The more AEDs we have, the more chance we’re going to be able to reach the people that will need them in an emergency,” said Scott, a former paramedic. As for Tyson Downs’ family, they’ll keep teaching whoever will listen about the importance of CPR and AEDs through their TD Beat Foundation. “We focus on youth sports teams of 16 to 21 years old, mainly because that’s who Tyson was. He was also very athletic kid. He spent hours on his dad’s rink practicing his shot. He spent hours on the golf course, chipping and putting, just trying to be the best he could. That’s who we’re focused on. That age group. We want to give back to the to the community that Tyson loved so much,” said Krueger. To register an AED in your community you can visit the AED Foundation Ontario website. You can also reach the Tyson Down’s Foundation to book a CPR or AED training session on their website.
