Restart a Heart - Restart a Life Campaign

 

We’re putting life-saving AED’s in more public places in your community.

The objective of the campaign is to secure funding that will enable the partners to distribute Automated External Defibrillator’s throughout New Brunswick through an application and selection process i.e, community centres, hockey arenas and other public gathering places. The HSFNB will be soliciting donations from the public and the corporate sector to achieve this goal. 

In New Brunswick alone, approximately 1,200 cardiac arrests occur annually in out-of-hospital settings. Defibrillation can improve cardiac arrest survival rates from 5% to 50 % if delivered in the first few minutes. That is why this program is so important to us and why we need the support of the public, corporate and governmental sectors.

So far, in New Brunswick, we have distributed close to 60 AED's in public places throughout this province since the launch in 2008. Recently, the Constable Bruce Hadley Memorial Relay Run For Heart, raised $100,000.00 that will go towards purchasing more AED's in 2009/2010. Our hope is that in the future, AED's become as common as fire extinguishers. Help us in this mission.

To fill out an application form in order to receive an automated external defibrillator in your establishment, please click here or call Christine Roherty @1-800-663-3600 croherty@hsf.nb.ca for more information. Click here and read below for more information on the Restart a Heart - Restart a Heart Campaign.

 

 

 

HEART&STROKE LAUNCHES PUBLIC ACCESS DEFIBRILLATION PROGRAM IN PARTNERSHIP WITH

 NEW BRUNSWICK EMS TO HELP SAVE LIVES IN PUBLIC PLACES

THROUGHOUT NEW BRUNSWICK

 

On August 20th, 2008, the Heart and Stroke Foundation of New Brunswick (HFSNB) launched the Heart&Stroke Restart a Heart, Restart a Life campaign in partnership with the New Brunswick EMS Public Access Defibrillation program (PAD) to help improve the survival rate after sudden cardiac arrest in New Brunswick. The campaign received a very generous donation from its Premier Sponsors Medavie Blue Cross and The Frank Cowan Foundation of $50,000 each which solidified a great start to this life saving initiative.

 

Ellen Hemphill, Community Relations Officer from Medavie Blue Cross holds the $50,000 donation from Medavie Blue Cross to The Heart and Stroke Foundation of New Brunswick along with Kurtis Sisk, Director of Revenue Development, and the President of the Board of Directors Greg Hierlihy, both representing the Heart and Stroke Foundation of New Brunswick.

 

Paul Jewett, Account Manager representing The Frank Cowan Foundation holds the $50,000 donation from The Frank Cowan Foundation to The Heart and Stroke Foundation of New Brunswick along with Kurtis Sisk, Director of Revenue Development, and the President of the Board of Directors Greg Hierlihy, both representing the Heart and Stroke Foundation of New Brunswick.

The objective of the campaign is to secure funding that will enable the partners to distribute Automated External Defibrillator’s throughout New Brunswick through an application and selection process i.e, community centres, hockey arenas and other public gathering places. The HSFNB will be soliciting donations from the public and the corporate sector to achieve this goal. 

 

Photo Caption: From Left to Right - John Clark from the J.T. Clark Family Foundation, Greg Hierlihy, Board President from The Heart and Stroke Foundation of New Brunswick and Kurtis Sisk, Director of Revenue Development for The Heart and Stroke Foundation of New Brunswick hold the $8000.00 donation from the J.T. Clark Family Foundation to the Restart a Heart - Restart a Life Campaign at the Launch on August 20th, 2008.  This donation purchased the very first Automated External Defibrillator for the program, and was donated to the Wille O'Ree Wellness Center in Fredericton, NB.
 

The proceeds from the campaign will be held by the HSFNB in the Bruce Hadley Tribute Fund. On August 25th 2007, Bruce passed away as a result of a heart attack. It occurred while he was jogging, something he loved to do on a regular basis. Bruce was only 32 and was from Bathurst, he sadly left behind a loving wife and two young children. As an RCMP officer, he touched the lives of many people and for these reasons, his family, friends, and co-workers have decided to organize the Memorial Bruce Hadley Relay Run for Heart, where all proceeds go towards the Restart a Heart – Restart a Life fund in his honor.

Photo caption - Gary Hadley, RCMP officer and Bruce Hadley's uncle representing Bruce Hadley's family, holds an AED with Angie Thibodeau, coordinator of the Relay Run For Heart for the Heart and Stroke Foundation of New Brunswick. All proceeds from the run will help place Automated External Defibrillators across New Brunswick.
 
 
Dan Connolly, CEO of the Heart and Stroke Foundation of New Brunswick explains how your chance of survival goes from 5% to 50% if an Automated External Defibrillator is placed in a public place - children from the YMCA in Fredericton day camp give a visual of lives saved.

“In New Brunswick alone, approximately 1,200 cardiac arrests occur annually in out-of-hospital settings. Defibrillation can improve cardiac arrest survival rates from 5% to 50 % if delivered in the first few minutes. That is why this program is so important to us and why we need the support of the public, corporate and governmental sectors,” says Dan Connolly, Chief Executive Officer, Heart and Stroke Foundation of New Brunswick.

The placement of Automated External Defibrillator’s will be coordinated in partnership with the NB EMS PAD program, who will manage site selection, training, and linkage to all emergency services. NB EMS is a subsidiary of Medavie EMS, a member of the Medavie Blue Cross group of companies who manages land and air ambulance services in the province of New Brunswick. NB EMS offers an education and support program for defibrillation through its PAD program.  

MaryLou Price, NB EMS South -West PAD Program Coordinator gives demonstration of how an Automated External Defibrillator works at the Launch for the Restart a Heart - Restart a Life Campaign on August 20th, 2008 in Fredericton.

“This is a terrific program that we are confident will help save lives,” says Rock Marois, Chief Operating Officer of NB EMS. “It represents the kind of partnership that benefits New Brunswickers directly and is helping us build a Cardiac Safe Province. NB EMS, through its PAD program, is pleased to partner with the Heart and Stroke Foundation to help making the province’s public places even safer.”

The AEDs will be linked to the New Brunswick EMS Program. Through the Heart&Stroke Restart a Heart, Restart a Life campaign, six staff members at each facility will be professionally trained to use each of the new AEDs. These trained personnel will be prepared to be called into action to assist someone who is having a cardiac arrest.

“Intervening quickly and having trained personnel close by is essential to improve survival rates. This is important because with each passing minute, the odds of surviving a sudden cardiac arrest decrease by seven to 10 percent. Together, with the Heart and Stroke Foundation of New Brunswick, NB EMS contributes to building the necessary training infrastructure to ensure the steps of the Chain of Survival can be implemented immediately,” says Marois.

To learn more about NB EMS PAD program, call toll free: 1-888-998-7171.

For more information on how you can make a donation through the Restart a Heart – Restart a Life campaign, or to inquire about receiving an AED through this program, please call toll free: 1-800-663-3600.