All Catholic and public secondary schools in the Windsor area are now equipped with automatic defibrillators, thanks to a generous donation.
Frank Cremasco donated the 27 AEDs to the local school boards and nine other facilities throughout the city in honour of his father, who passed away from cardiac arrest while in a public space.
"He was playing bocci ball, which he loved to do, and it took about half an hour for first responders to get there and he had already passed by that time," says Cremasco.
He's hoping having the AEDs in local schools and other public spaces will prevent similar tragedies.
"It's nice that they are there in case something happens, especially being in some of the smaller schools or the schools that are outside the city that first responders may take a little time to get there, If you read the stats, minutes matter," says Cremasco.
John Picco with Second Chance CPR says they will provide training for the defibrillators but they are safe to use without full training.
"The units, you can pull them right out of the cabinet. It does talk to you, gives you self directions to call 911, how to hook on the pads, so they are very straight forward to use," says Picco.
He says the machine will not work if a person has a normal heart beat so it cannot be used in the wrong circumstance.
