EMS Week 2013 | May 26



	Thank you for visiting the Paramedic Chiefs of Canada EMS week page. Please find below a number of resources that you can use for your week. If you require additional information, please contact emsweek@paramedicchiefs.ca Complete EMS Week Kit – word format (updated May 23-2013) Complete EMS Week Kit – PDF format (updated May 23, 2013) EMS week logo – English – no date line – png format EMS week logo – French – no date line – png format EMS week logo – English – with date – jpeg format EMS week logo – English – with date – MS Publisher format National Proclamation – update May 23-2013 – word format – English Medical Data Carrier information package

	Please share your EMS Week activities with us all.Twitter hashtag #emsweek2013Send us pictures, posters, printed advertisement, newspaper clippings, activitysheets you might have developed. We would love to hear from you.EMAIL TO: emsweek@paramedicchiefs.caFor additional information please contact the EMS week committee chair LyleKarasiuk 306-953-8358 or email at lyle@parklandambulance.com

For Immediate Release
May 27, 2013

MEDIA RELEASE: Save lives by fixing defibrillator policy, Goodale urges in motion

OTTAWA, ON - To kick off EMS Week 2013, Member of Parliament Ralph Goodale highlighted his Private Members Motion M-446, which calls for the federal government to fix its wildly inconsistent policies on live-saving defibrillators.

35,000 to 40,000 Canadians die of sudden cardiac arrest every year, and defibrillators increase survival rates by up to 30 percent if used in the first few minutes.

“Many departments and agencies in the federal government recognize that defibrillators save lives, yet just as many do not. It is time for the government to update its policy and become a role model by deploying defibrillators in all its buildings,” Goodale said.

“Paramedics have known for years that defibrillators are one of the most cost-effective ways to save lives. Having quick access to them is crucial to beating the odds of surviving cardiac arrest, which worsen by 7 to 10% for every minute of delay in defibrillation,” he added.

Information obtained by Goodale revealed that 36 federal departments and agencies do not have a single defibrillator, including Health Canada and Public Safety Canada. The RCMP does not know how many it has deployed and Public Works and Government Services Canada, which manages federal buildings, has no information on how many it possesses.

“The Paramedic Chiefs of Canada commend the introduction of this measure and Mr. Goodale’s proposal of this motion. We encourage parliamentarian support of introducing this important life-saving measure and encourage that it be taken one step further,” said Darren Sandbeck, President of the Paramedic Chiefs of Canada states. “We strongly support the initiative that every public building in the country have an automated external defibrillator with trained staff responders.”

More information is available at www.ralphgoodale.ca/m446.