The Osoyoos Gyro Club, which has been providing community service for more than 70 years, has decided to provide a parting gift to the community by purchasing an Automated External Defibrillator (AED) and encouraging numerous local businesses to purchase the lifesaving medical equipment. The AED purchased by the club will be available at the Sonora Community Centre and will be handed out to local groups and clubs for special events. On hand for the ceremony on Monday were (from left) Gyro Club members Lorne Schwindt and Howard Gwyn; Gerald Davis, the town’s director of community services; Gail Scott, managing director of Destination Osoyoos; Gyro Club president Rick Neumann; Mayor Sue McKortoff; South Okanagan Chamber of Commerce executive director Denise Blashko; and Dan Lyver, a member of the local ambulance service. (Keith Lacey photo)
A service club that has been doing great work in the community for more than 70 years will be folding, but they have taken on a special project they are confident will save lives and have a lasting impact in this community for decades to come.
The Osoyoos Gyro Club, which has been in existence dating back to the 1940s, has started a campaign to bring as many Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) to the Town of Osoyoos as possible over the next couple of months.
“We’ve purchased one for the town … that will be used at the Sonora Community Centre and handed out to community groups that need it for special events. We’re working with the local Chamber of Commerce to encourage as many businesses as possible to purchase their own AED,” said Gyro Club president Rick Neumann. “We think places like hotels, fitness centres, campgrounds and restaurants would be ideal places where these machines could be beneficial.”
Osoyoos is home to many seniors and tens of thousands of visiting tourists during the busy spring, summer and fall tourist season and there are a large number of people who suffer heart attacks and cardiac arrest in this community.
“Heart attacks don’t happen during business hours,” he said. “They can happen at any time and we truly feel that lives can be saved if members of the public have quick and easy access to an AED.”
The goal would be to have AEDs easily accessible and available from one end of town to the other once this campaign is completed, said Neumann.
“You basically have three minutes to shock the heart after someone has a heart attack or cardiac arrest,” he said. “That’s how long the brain can breathe on its own before permanent damage is caused and you start dying, so it’s crucial to have as many of these AEDs in our community as possible.”
There are 40,000 cases of cardiac arrest in Canada each year and the great majority are fatal, but it has been proven time and time again that having access to an AED and shocking the heart during an emergency will save lives, he said.
“A town the size of Osoyoos, given our population, demographics and tourists, can expect about 10 cases a year,” he said. “The ideal goal is treating a victim of cardiac arrest is to begin treatment through cardiopulmonary resuscitation and the use of an AED within three minutes. You could say cardiac arrest is a once in a lifetime event.”
In a recent study, casino owners in Las Vegas installed numerous AEDs and trained their staff so they could treat cardiac arrest victims as quickly as possible and it was reported that 75 per cent of victims survived, a vast improvement over the five per cent expected without any treatment, said Neumann.
There are currently several AEDs in downtown buildings – including the Sun Bowl Arena, Royal Canadian Legion, Osoyoos Secondary School, Osoyoos Elementary School and Osoyoos Seniors Centre – but those buildings aren’t open for many hours each day, he said.
“There are many areas of our town where an ambulance can’t reasonably be expected to arrive within three minutes,” he said. “That’s why we’re approaching businesses and asking them to consider installing an AED.
“Restaurants, hotels, retirement communities and fitness centres are ideal candidates.”
The price for a new, state-of-the-art AED is between $1,400 and $2,000 and they last for many years and are simple to use, said Neumann.
The Gyro Club is going to sponsor a free training session to allow members of the community learn how to perform CPR and a new AED. A time and date for the session is likely to take place before the end of March and will be announced through the media very soon, he said.
There is also a course given once a month at the Sonora Centre by the Priority One Trauma Team from Penticton that lasts half a day and costs $75. You can register by calling 1-250-487-8389.
Neumann said it’s his hope that AEDs will become as common and accessible as fire extinguishers.
“Cardiac arrest is far more deadly than fire and happens much more often,” he said. AEDs are proven to save lives and we want to help save lives in Osoyoos.”
The Gyro Club currently has only six members and most of them are in their 70s and 80s, so the club has decided to fold soon, said Neumann.
“This project will be our parting gift to the community,” he said.
Osoyoos Mayor Sue McKortoff said the Gyro Club has done great work in the community for several decades and she’s very thankful for their involvement in spearheading this campaign.
“The Town of Osoyoos is very pleased to receive a new Automated External Defibrillator (AED) from the Osoyoos Gyro Club,” she said. “It will be kept at the Sonora Centre and will be available for local groups to borrow for town events.
“AEDs have been used to help local citizens who have suffered cardiac arrests. We thank the Gyro Club for helping to make our town a safer place to live and visit.”
KEITH LACEY
Osoyoos Times
