AED in every curling club

AED in every curling club

We've all sat in a curling club annual general meeting.

Usually a couple dozen people are there. The issue of membership will be brought up and the same issues year after year. Same old, same old.

In a couple months your curling club will host an annual general meeting. Consider bringing up the issue of having an AED in your curling club.

Read the story from the Brantford Expositor about how an AED at the Brant Curling Club help to save a life. 

For members of the Brant Curling Club, the message of the 18th annual Curl for Stroke hit close to home.
Although Angelo Mancini, Bill Page and Mark Singleton don't want any accolades, their heroics created awareness for automated external defibrillators and saved a friend's life.
Last Wednesday, Bill Park suffered a heart attack while watching men's league action at the club, which was hosting the Curl for Stroke a couple of days later.

Curling clubs are full of senior citizens being active. That's great. However, due to the activity and the population that curling clubs serve, there is a bit of an increased risk of a member having a heart attack. An AED can save a life.

All three had plenty of training on using the AED since the curling club received one a couple of years ago.
"It was all so surreal," Singleton said.
"You'd like to talk big and say you weren't scared but we were. We were just doing what we could. All I was thinking about was please don't die on us."
The hours of training kicked in for the men, as did their instinct.
"I don't know why we did what we did, but when it was time to do CPR, Mark just did it," Page said.
"At the beginning, I didn't know if I'd remember how do it all, and, honestly, it just came to me. It's funny because when you're in those classes, you never really think you'll need to remember it all. But we did. And when we were doing it, we did exactly what it (AED) was telling us even if we couldn't hear it."

They cost about $2,000, so it will cost a bit of money, but a strong fundraiser or two and it can be paid for.

Consider bringing up that there is a need for an AED at the next curling club AGM. A life could depend on it.

While what happened Wednesday was strange timing because February is Heart Month, and the Curl for Stroke Bonspiel was about to take place.
"When we hooked him up to the machine, I looked up a couple of times and all I saw was the Heart and Stroke signs everywhere," Page said.
"The timing was just strange."
Unfortunately, the incident is all too familiar for Brant Curling Club members.
"This is the second time in two years something like this has happened," Singleton said.
"Last year it happened on the ice. It's just strange timing and something you wish didn't happen. But it's a reality and we all have to know what to do if it does."
And that's why much of Friday's bonspiel was devoted to awareness, which included a demonstration on how to use the AED.
"It's pretty important to have an AED here," Page said.
"In all honesty, I don't think just CPR would've brought him back. The fact the defibrillator is here, was deployed as quick as we could, and the fact that all three of us were trained made a difference. That's the message people need to understand. They need to know they are available and need to know how to use them."
Mancini said that the people in the community who worked to make AEDs available should be applauded.
"Now the big push is to let people know they are out there," Mancini said.
"We all know they save lives, and although there have been people not as fortunate as Bill, saving one life is making a huge difference."

Happy Heart Month