LONDON — The Ontario government is moving forward with its commitment to improve health and safety in provincial buildings by installing life-saving portable heart defibrillators.
 
“Portable heart defibrillators save lives. It’s a fact that cardiac arrest victims who have access to portable heart defibrillators increase their chances of survival by up to 50 per cent,” Minister of Government Services Gerry Phillips said. “Already two lives have been saved – one member of the public and one government employee. That's why we will install 250 of these devices in close to 100 provincial government buildings around the province.”
 
Three portable defibrillators have recently been installed at the Ministry of Transportation’s Exeter Road Complex in London. There are now about 70 defibrillators in Ontario government buildings.
 
“I am pleased to see this life-saving program expanded to include government buildings in London,” said Khalil Ramal, MPP for London-Fanshawe. “Sixteen to 20 per cent of cardiac arrests occur in public places, so putting defibrillators in provincial buildings will have a significant positive impact on the health of people in the London area.”

“Health and safety is of great importance to us all. This measure will make Ontario government buildings safer for employees and the public,” said MPP for London North Centre Deborah Matthews.

“The Heart and Stroke Foundation commends the initiative of the Government of Ontario to put automatic external defibrillators (AEDs) in government facilities and train its employees to save lives,” said Rocco Rossi, Chief Executive Officer of the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario.

“The foundation is also continuing its leadership role by raising funds to place AEDs in Ontario communities through the Start a Heart, Save a Life Campaign and the Chase McEachern Tribute Fund. We believe that defibrillators should become as common as fire extinguishers because they are just as powerful in the fight to save lives,” Rossi said.

Today’s announcement is another step forward to providing London residents with better health care. The McGuinty government has also come forward with:

• $4.9 million to improve and enhance outpatient care at London Health Sciences Centre and day surgery services at St. Joseph’s Health Care
• 16 new Family Health Teams providing care for 146,198 patients, including almost 9,000 who previously did not have a family doctor
• $1.3 million for the new South West Community Care Access Centre, helping clients receive care in their homes for longer.

Backgrounder: Portable defibrillators in Ontario government buildings

Contacts:
Paul de Zara
Minister’s Office
416-327-3072 

Ciaran Ganley
Ministry of Government Services
416-325-8659