Ottawa paramedics say more defibrillators are needed after a pair of heart attacks left one man dead and put another in hospital Tuesday night.
The quick actions of staff and teammates helped save a 52-year-old man who collapsed on the bench while playing hockey at Tom Brown Arena on Bayview Road, just west of downtown Ottawa.
"Apparently they were short numbers, so they were working really hard. He came over to the bench and shortly after collapsed," said Ottawa paramedic Paul Morneau.
Zamboni driver Brian Nielsen saw the man in distress, and immediately went into action.
"I got the pads, turned on the unit and shocked the patient with the defibrillator," said Nielsen. "I was just really happy that the program we have in place works and that he managed to pull through."
Paramedics took over when they arrived at the scene. The man was conscious by the time he was taken to hospital.
However, another man was not so lucky. Ninety minutes after getting the first call, paramedics were called to a community gymnasium on Maitland Avenue where a 38-year-old man suffered a heart attack while playing ball hockey.
Although teammates started CPR and paramedics did all they could, the man did not survive.
The gym is in a privately-owned building, which houses a school. It did not have a defibrillator.
Defibrillators have been installed in 800 locations across the city. All English public and Catholic high schools have the machines. French public schools will be getting them soon.
So far, 40 people in Ottawa have survived cardiac arrest after defibrillators were used. Your chances of surviving a cardiac arrest if you're treated only with CPR are about five per cent. If you add a defibrillator, your chances jump to 65 per cent.
With a report from CTV Ottawa's John Hua and Joanne Schnurr
