The following statement was given today in the House of Assembly by the Honourable Terry French, Minister of Tourism, Culture and Recreation:

$100,000 Investment in Defibrillators Designed to Save Lives

I rise today to inform the Honourable members of this House of an important Provincial Government investment in a campaign designed to place life-saving Automated External Defibrillators — commonly known as AEDs — in key public places throughout Newfoundland and Labrador, starting with stadiums.

Studies show that defibrillation within three to five minutes of a heart-related incident results in a survival rate of up to 75 per cent. Since stadiums are one obvious place where large numbers of people gather, it makes sense to have these units close by in case of a cardiac emergency.

Earlier today, I was involved in a Heart and Stroke Foundation news conference, where they launched their three-year Restart a Heart fundraising campaign to put more AEDs in public places. The Provincial Government is the largest contributor to Phase I of this campaign, having provided $100,000 this year to support efforts to place AEDs in about 50 stadiums throughout the province.

The Department of Tourism, Culture and Recreation was already investigating the possibility of putting more AEDs in sports facilities when the Heart and Stroke Foundation approached us with a proposal to partner on this initiative. So the timing was excellent and we were pleased to come onboard.

Some of our sporting facilities already have AEDs on site. If there was ever a doubt as to their importance, it was dispelled a few weeks ago when the manager of the Stephenville Dome, Ross White, used an AED to resuscitate a gentleman who had collapsed at that facility. Mr. White was at the news conference this morning and was recognized for his action in saving that gentleman's life.

With this $100,000 investment, the Provincial Government is demonstrating our commitment to providing greater capacity within communities to respond to similar cardiac emergencies in the future. We look forward to working with the foundation as the campaign progresses.

Finally, I take this opportunity to commend corporate sponsors Vale Inco and the Resource Development Council, which contributed $50,000 each, as well as Newfoundland Hydro, which provided $10,000 to this worthy campaign. This is an excellent example of government, the corporate community and the not-for-profit sector coming together on a project designed to protect the health and well-being of our people.

2010 05 19                                                   2:15 p.m.