FortisBC big bike event

Photo: Contributed

The Hawthorn Park Seniors Residence will receive a new, publically available automated external defibrillator (AED) for their facility courtesy of FortisBC’s Power Pedalers Big Bike ride team. The team of FortisBC employees raised $13,300 for Heart & Stroke, the top fundraising team for the event.
 
The Heart&Stroke Big Bike is a team event geared towards companies, community organizations and groups of friends and families who each commit to fundraise in order to earn their seat on a fun, oversized bike and support the Heart and Stroke’s mission to prevent disease, save lives and promote recovery. The top fundraising teams in their region are awarded an automated external defibrillator (AED) for their community.
 
”It’s rewarding to our team that the AED is staying right here in our community where we live and work,” said FortisBC team co-captain Andrea MacKenzie. “We have a dedicated group of employees that are always happy to step up and help out in our community. Being part of the Big Bike event was a very fun and fulfilling experience for those of us on Team FortisBC.”
 
“The FortisBC Big Bike team, Power Pedalers, have raised $31,428 over the past four years for the Heart & Stroke Foundation. Placing more AED’s in our community fulfills our commitment to enabling faster, better cardiac emergency response and survival rates“, says Wendy Wright, Community Development Coordinator, Okanagan/Kootenay, for the Heart and Stroke Foundation.
 
In BC, a cardiac arrest happens every two hours. Bystander response is critical because chances of survival drop 7% to 10% every passing minute without CPR or defibrillation. However, performing CPR and using an AED immediately can double or triple chances of survival. 
 
Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) are small, portable devices that shock the heart into a normal rhythm—it will not deliver a shock unnecessarily. AEDs can be used quickly and safely by the general public before emergency services arrive.
 
The Heart & Stroke believes AEDs should be as common as fire extinguishers. The AED, once placed, will form part of the BC Public Access to Defibrillation (PAD) Program and will be linked to the provincial AED registry and the 911 dispatch system. This enables a bystander who calls 9-1-1 to be directed by a dispatcher to the nearest AED and coached on CPR. A partnership program between the Heart & Stroke and BC Emergency Health Services, the BC PAD Program has placed AEDs in public places around the province.
 
About Heart & Stroke
Life. We don’t want you to miss it. That’s why Heart & Stroke leads the fight against heart disease and stroke. Over the last 60 years, we have invested more than $1.45 billion in heart and stroke research, making us the largest contributor in Canada after the federal government. In that time, the death rate from heart disease and stroke has declined by more than 75 per cent. www.heartandstroke.ca