Frontenac Paramedics place defibrillator at NFTC

Jeff Green | May 19, 2011

Photo: Mayor Janet Gutowski, Dave Smith and Gale Chevalier with the defibrillator

The North Frontenac Telephone Company head office in Sharbot Lake is the latest Frontenac County recipient of a Public Access Defibrillator, thanks to the efforts of Frontenac Paramedic Services Deputy Chief Gale Chevalier.

Chevalier, who was on hand last Friday for the presentation of the defibrillator to North Frontenac Telephone General Manager Dave Smith, raised the $2,500 cost of the unit in the 2010 Becel Ride for Heart EMS/PAD challenge last summer. She gathered pledges from her friends and colleagues to cycle on the Don Valley Parkway in Toronto last June.

The paramedic services work closely with the volunteer fire departments, and Bill Young, a member of the Central Frontenac Fire Department who works at North Frontenac Telephone Company, suggested locating a defibrillator there.

“North Frontenac Telephone Company has a free-to-use facility in our basement, which any community organization or person may use for any sort of function they may be having. It can range from only a handful of people, to sometimes upwards of 50. We understand that the public use defibrillators save lives, and we can't begin to express the thanks to Gale, and all of her hard work in obtaining the defibrillator to donate to us.”

There are quite a number of public access defibrillators in the county now, some funded as part of MP Scott Reid’s campaign and others through the efforts of the paramedic services.

And more are on the way. The Frontenac Paramedic Services will be entering a team in this year's Becel Ride for Heart on June 5. Eight team members will ride, with the goal of raising enough money for three more defibrillators for distribution throughout the county (see the ad on page 6).