Off-duty paramedic helps save person with no pulse in Comox, B.C.

The Town of Comox in central Vancouver Island is crediting an off-duty paramedic with helping save the life of a person who was experiencing a medical emergency at the town's community centre.

The incident occurred on the morning of Jan. 3 at the Comox Community Centre.

A customer at the community centre spotted the person in medical distress and alerted rec centre staff as well as the off-duty paramedic, according to the municipality.

"A quick assessment determined the person in medical distress had no pulse and was not breathing," said the municipality in a release Monday.

The off-duty first responder and community centre workers performed CPR on the person and used a public automated external defibrillator (AED) at the rec centre until paramedics and firefighters arrived.

The person was then rushed to hospital for care.

The Town of Comox is crediting its AED sponsorship program with playing a crucial role in the incident.

"We know that the faster CPR and AED can be used, the higher the chance the patient has of surviving the event," said Comox Fire Chief Gord Schreiner in a statement.

"In this situation, there was a great outcome for the person, and it once again proves the importance of having publicly accessible AEDs," he said.

Comox has more than 50 public AEDs in the community, located in different businesses and centres in the town.

Some of those AEDs were partly paid for by the Comox Firefighters Association, which pays for roughly half the cost of publicly accessible AEDs.

Any business interested in housing an AED can apply to the firefighters association for funding.

The association provides funding for about four new AEDs in the community each year.