Where is the nearest defibrillator? Registry set to launch on P.E.I.

The province is getting closer to launching its defibrillator registry.

Last year, Health PEI announced that a new defibrillator registry would be part of the province's new medical emergency dispatch system. Now, the province wants anyone with an automated external defibrillator (AED)to sign up.

"Right now, the drive for us is to push anyone who owns an AED, whether it's business, public, fire department, we want them to register them," said Darcy Clinton, paramedic chief with Island EMS.

The goal of the registry is to make finding the nearest AED much quicker, so that when someone is having a heart attack and a call is placed to Island EMS, someone in the vicinity can start to work on helping that person while they wait for emergency responders to arrive.

Once the registry is up and running, computer software will automatically alert Island EMS to the nearest AED to the location of the caller and the person who isin cardiac arrest. Someone on the scene will then be sent to retrieve the AED, and and EMS dispatcher will instruct the caller on how to use it.

'This is going to get the best outcomes for us'

"It's great, for us it's all about the survival of Islanders," Clinton said. "So if we can get people to start CPR and AEDs right off the bat, this is going to get the best outcomes for us."

Clinton said the devices are easy to you, and nothing to be afraid of. The website,where anyone with an AED can go to register it,features two new videos produced by the province. The goal is to show Islanders that anyone can use an AED.

"We are used to them as paramedics, we are trained to use them," Clinton said. "But we want to get the information out there that anybody can use these devices, from young children to elderly people, everyone can use them and that's why we want to promote this."

The registry is a joint initiative between the P.E.I. government, Island EMS and the PEI Heart and Stroke Foundation.

The group hopes to have the new registry up and running by this summer.

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