It’s 2 a.m. and you’re heading to bed when, suddenly, your husband grabs his chest and drops to the floor, unconscious. You check and find he’s not breathing. It’s a sudden cardiac arrest, or heart attack. You call 911 but know it could take the paramedics 10 to 15 minutes to arrive. How much time do you have? If you know CPR, you can begin that process and hope to hear an ambulance arriving momentarily. Or there may be another option. If you have purchased an automated external defibrillator (AED), you can quickly attach the machine to the victim’s chest and it will check for heart rhythms and deliver an electric shock to restart the heart – much like the scenario common on TV medical shows, where the emergency doctor grabs two paddles, rubs them together, yells “clear!” and shocks the patient back to life. AEDs have been used with increasing frequency in recent years in public settings such as arenas, airport terminals or casinos. And they are making inroads in the commercial world at plants and offices, says Philip Griffiths, Toronto branch manager for St. John Ambulance. Standard equipment for all St. John Ambulance volunteers, they are saving lives, Griffiths says. The Canadian Heart and Stroke Foundation agrees. “AEDs are a priority for the Foundation,” says Jane-Diane Fraser, national communications coordinator. In Ontario, the ReStart a Heart, Restart a Life AED program has placed more than 2,000 of the devices in municipalities across the province in the past three years. While use of the devices in public and commercial settings is increasingly common, the home is the next frontier, says Griffiths, adding that the majority of cardiac arrests – fully 75 per cent – do take place in the home and often in the early morning hours, 2 to 3 a.m. “Combine that with an older demographic – as the baby boomers hit senior years – and there’s growing research to support home defibrillators,” he says. “I’m 49 years old and I’ll tell you, within another five to eight years, I’ll have an AED in my house. It just makes sense.” According to the Heart and Stroke Foundation, more than 40,000 Canadian lives are lost annually to cardiac arrest. Defibrillation improves survival rates by up to 30 per cent if delivered in the first few minutes. With each passing minute, the probability of survival declines by seven to 10 per cent. The devices cost about $1,600 each but prices are expected to decrease in the future as more manufacturers launch products, suggests Dave Frank, director of marketing and public relations for St. John Ambulance, British Columbia and Yukon Council. Using the devices is a safe procedure, Ontario’s Griffiths says. With four to six hours of training, a non-medical person can efficiently operate the machine, which will actually talk the user through the procedure. And, he adds, its more effective than CPR which buys time by keeping blood flowing to the brain until a procedure, like defibrillation, can be used to get the heart working again. Although AEDs are not yet big sellers for home use, Griffiths says condominium owners are beginning to see their value, purchasing them for their buildings and training people on-site to use them. The Toronto St. John Ambulance is launching a media campaign to educate consumers about the value of AEDs in the home. In British Columbia, a similar campaign is underway, says Dave Frank. One of the province’s major retailers, London Drugs, is launching its own campaign and stocking the devices in its pharmacies, sold with a voucher for training by St. John Ambulance. It truly is “the next frontier,” says Frank, both for home and commercial use. In most cases, AED training is being offered in conjunction with CPR training. For more information on these devices and how to obtain them, check the Heart and Stroke website at heartandstroke.on.ca or call St. John Ambulance in Toronto at 416-967-4244.