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Decentralized Democracy

House Hansard - 111

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
October 17, 2022 11:00AM
Context: House Hansard - 111 - Oct/17/22
Mr. Scott Reid (Lanark—Frontenac—Kingston, CPC)
  • Oct/17/22 5:52:39 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, today's question relates to the number of lives that could be saved if the government would instruct the RCMP to install automated external defibrillators, also known as AEDs, in each cruiser. I have been raising this issue since the Liberal government came to power in 2015, but the government unfortunately has taken no action. By my calculation, about 300 lives would be saved every year if AEDs were installed in Canada's 5,600 RCMP cruisers. Let me tell members how I have come to that calculation. The purpose of an AED is to reduce fatalities from the kind of heart attack known as sudden cardiac arrest, a pathology that typically starts with what is known as pulseless ventricular tachycardia and ventricular fibrillation. An academic paper published in the Annals of Emergency Medicine makes the following remarkable assertion regarding this pathology: “Every patient with a witnessed ventricular fibrillation cardiac arrest should survive. If the patient does not survive, the goal is to determine why.” In principle, AEDs, which are the devices used to counter this kind of cardiac issue, should save a lot of lives. How many? Well, ventricular tachycardia and ventricular fibrillation are the source of 85% of all sudden cardiac arrest deaths. Among this population, if each cardiac crisis were witnessed and responded to instantly by a first responder equipped with an AED, there would in principle be a perfect survival rate. In practice, the survival rate is going to be lower, but when the rate is at its highest, in controlled, highly monitored situations such as airports and casinos, it is impressive. At O'Hare airport in Chicago, for example, the save rate is 75%. However, time is of the essence. According to the Heart and Stroke Foundation, for every minute the application of an AED is delayed, the chance of survival drops by about 7% to 10%. After 12 minutes, the survival rate is under 5%. This is why the public policy responsible, both here and in the U.S., is focused so intensely on speeding up response time when a victim or bystander contacts 911. This is why police vehicles are equipped with AEDs in places like Vancouver, Kingston, Laval, Fredericton, Medicine Hat and even Smiths Falls, in my riding. There is an AED in the trunk of every one of the over 150 cruisers of the Ottawa Police Service. As long ago as 2012, this resulted in 22 interventions and nine successful saves of heart attack victims. In 2013, there were 23 interventions and eight lives were saved, and so on, in a long record of success right here in Ottawa. Ottawa's experience, which is typical, shows that on average, one life will be saved every year for every 17 AEDs installed in police cruisers. There is no better place to put an AED than in the trunk of a police car. AEDs that are purchased in bulk cost a little over $1,000 each. Training costs are essentially zero, as RCMP personnel are already trained, and the cost of responding to 911 calls is not a factor, as the police already do this. We can multiply this success rate by the number of cruisers in the RCMP. If each one of the 5,600 RCMP cruisers carried an AED, it would result in 320 lives being saved every year. Since an AED remains operational for 10 years, we could save 3,000 lives over the next decade at a cost of $2,000 per life. With these considerations in mind, why is it that the government has not, after seven years in power, arranged to have AEDs in every RCMP cruiser in the country?
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Context: House Hansard - 111 - Oct/17/22
Ms. Pam Damoff (Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Safety, Lib.)
  • Oct/17/22 5:56:31 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I want to begin by thanking the hon. member, not only for his advocacy but also for his donation of AEDs to his local police service. According to Heart and Stroke, approximately 40,000 Canadians experience sudden cardiac arrest each year, and 80% of these occur outside of a hospital setting. This is one of the reasons all RCMP officers are required to be trained and recertified in CPR and first aid, including the use of AEDs. The RCMP is committed to our communities, with CPR, AED and first aid training included in the standard first aid curriculum, in which all members are required to recertify every three years. This represents a demonstrable enhancement of our public safety role as first responders. The RCMP is aware that some police services equip police vehicles with AEDs. I was also present when we studied Motion No. 124 at the public safety committee, looking at the hon. member for Richmond—Arthabaska's private member's bill on the issue. AEDs increase the chances of survival by 75%. At the time of our study, the Library of Parliament provided us with a 2014 report that the public safety committee had done on the economics of policing. Municipalities pay 60% of policing in Canada, and it takes up to 50% of their budgets. While I was doing some research on police forces in North America that have these devices in their cars, it appears that many of them got them through either donations or grants, much like the hon. member across the aisle did with his police service. Currently, the RCMP provides contract policing services to all provinces and territories except Ontario and Quebec, as well as some 150 municipalities. These services are provided through the police services agreements, which see the costs for RCMP services shared by the provincial and municipal governments and the federal government. In consultation with the RCMP, provinces, territories and municipalities establish the level of resources, budget and policing priorities in their respective jurisdictions. It is through these consultations and decisions by the government of local jurisdiction that the RCMP is allocated funding for the purchase of new equipment. The financial impact of procuring AEDs for RCMP vehicles would also have to be completed in consultation with contract partners to determine the extent to which these devices could be deployed. Currently, AEDs have been approved for installation and used in select RCMP operational areas, including emergency medical response teams, some protective policing details, and in provinces where provincial policing standards require that AEDs be available. Another important consideration that came up during our study of Motion No. 124 was that only 15% of Canadians live in communities that are serviced by the RCMP. Obviously, equipping RCMP vehicles would help, but it would not reach as many communities as we would like. In equipping RCMP vehicles with AEDs, several operational rollout and financial considerations must be assessed, including consultations with our contract partners.
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