Photo: Wendy Wright

L-R: Dan Brown - Royal Lepage, Kandis Mason – Royal Lepage, Wendy Wright - Heart & Stroke, Melanie Schierbeck – BC Tree Fruits, Marvyn Baker – Royal Lepage

Downtown Kelowna got a boost this week after the Kelowna Royal Lepage Big Bike team placed an automated external defibrillator (AED) at BC Tree Fruits downtown location.

The offices at 1473 Water Street received a new, publically available AED for their facility.

The Royal Lepage Rollers team raised $7,190 for Heart & Stroke, the top 2018 fundraising team for the entire Okanagan/Kootenay region.

“The Royal Lepage Rollers, have raised an outstanding $34, 624 over the past seven years for the Heart & Stroke Foundation. Placing more AED’s in our community fulfills our commitment to enabling faster, better cardiac emergency response and therefore survival rates“, says Wendy Wright, Heart & Stroke Coordinator Community Fundraising, Okanagan/Interior.

Kandis Mason the Royal Lepage Team Captain is very proud of their team’s accomplishments and says; “The Big Bike is so much fun and we feel good giving back to the community in this important way. Many people in our office have been touched by heart disease and this motivates our team to support Heart & Stroke.”

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, 30 seat bike and support the Heart & Stroke’s mission to promote health, save lives and enhance recovery.

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. But performing CPR and using an AED immediately can double or triple the chances of survival.

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.