Adam Bramburger
Beaver Staff
Visitors to the Canadian Museum of Fraternal Lodges can have added peace of mind knowing there is now an automated external defibrillator on site.
Mason Ed Peters said the organizations meeting at the museum had tried for some time through various organizations to provide a defibrillator, but didn’t feel like they were getting anywhere.
That was until paramedic Bill Lewis helped them go directly to the source. Lewis shared a contact at Zoll Medical Canada, the subsidiary of a company that makes and sells defibrillators and other medical devices.
While they spoke with Vince Gervais, the company’s sales manager for publc access defibrillators, its chief executive officer Adam Dawson learned about the request.
“The CEO got wind of this and he offered to donate it,” Peters said.
The value of the new machine is believed over $2,000.
Between the lodges that regularly use the building — the Prince of Wales Masonic Lodge No. 146, the Victoria Masonic Lodge No. 299, the Union Masonic Lodge No. 9 and the Mount Sinai Royal Arch Masons No. 44 — museum visitors, and other community groups, Peters estimates about 500 seniors congregate at the corner of Bridge Street and Belleville Road each month.
“They now know if they’re there, there’s one on site. It’s a great thing that we’ve got it,” he said.
Statistics circulated by the Heart and Stroke Foundation suggest the presence of an onsite defibrillator can greatly enhance the chances of saving a life.
A 2010 study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology found that found that coupled with proper cardiopulmonary resucitation (CPR) the use of an automatic external defibrillator could increase the chance of survival by 75 per cent.
A scientific statement from the American Heart Association publsihed in 2004 also suggested that for every minute of delay in starting defibrillation, the survival rate of a cardiac arrest victim decreases by 7-10 per cent. After more than 12 minutes, there’s a less than five-per-cent survival rate.
While it is recommended trained people perform defibrillation if possible, the machines are designed so that anyone can use them. With that in mind, when he presented the defibrillator to local Masons Jan. 4, Lewis held a demonstration to show how it could be used.