Public Security Taking Defibrillator Training

Public Security personnel recently started defibrillator training that will soon have the life-saving device be in full use locally.

“Due to the fact that we already have them at the Rec centre and the arena and that our patrollers are often on the road, we decided to put them in the vehicles to be used in case of an emergency,” said Public Security director André Maratta.

A few months ago, Capt. Andrew Milukow and Lt. Carole Daoust took two days of training. Last Thursday, five P.S. supervisors and one senior patroller attended a five-hour training session where they watched an American Heart Association (AHA) video and then took turns practicing the various scenarios with a training device.

“It’s really idiot-proof,” said Nelson Godbout of the Groupe R.E.S.-Q who supervised the training. “The machine will tell you what you did right and what you did wrong.” Since last October, you didn’t need any medical advice before using the device in Quebec, he added.

The intervenor first must ensure that the scene is safe and check if the victim responds to verbal and physical stimulation. After plugging the connector into the Automatic External Defibrillator (AED), the device will instruct the trainee to place the two pads to the bare chest of the victim of a heart attack. It will then analyze whether the heart is in fibrillation (vibrating, but not beating).

If that is the case, the person will be asked to shock the victim. A defibrillation may allow a normal heat rhythm to return. However, if the AED detects a heart beat, it will indicate that no shock is necessary. Performing CPR could prolong the defibrillation for about 10 minutes, Godbout noted. (All Public Security personnel have already taken cardio-pulmonary resuscitation (CPR) training (a 16-hour CSST course) that is a prerequisite for their hiring).

The AHA has concluded that the chances of survival are 90 per cent if the AED is used within the first minute of an attack. For each passing minute, the chances are reduced by 10 per cent.

An AED is already located in the P.S. supervisor’s vehicle and will be used should it be needed, Maratta said. Training will be given now to the 36 patrollers in groups of six over the next several weeks.

Besides being at the Rec Centre and the arena since last summer, defibrillators are also available at the Pierre-Laporte pool, the local library (where several people have taken training), the municipal pool during the summer, and the Town Hall where staff hasn’t yet received training.

For Public Security, it’s a chance to show that they can provide a public service, especially for an aging population. “When something happens to someone, it’s not only a question of patrolling and applying municipal by-laws, it’s also to assist the public”, said Maratta.