Kudrinko's installs public access defibrillator

Neil Kudrinko has been enduring good-natured teasing about having an immediate solution for sticker shock at his Westport, Ont. grocery ever since Aug. 5.

That was the day he installed a new public access defibrillator (PAD), the latest in a series of moves designed to ensure customer safety.

The PAD at Kudrinko’s is the fourth such device in the town of 700, joining others at the local arena, town hall and nearby fire department.

“It was an investment we felt was worth making in our store, not only for our customers but for our staff and just trying to create a safer community,” says Kudrinko (left in photo with staff member, Monique Byrne, and David Dargie of St. John Ambulance Brigade).

Situated within Eastern Ontario’s picturesque Rideau Lakes district, much of Westport’s population is comprised of retirees. Its population swells significantly during the summer, with Kudrinko estimating that as many as 10,000 people a week pass through the store.

“People just have to think about the sheer volume of people going through their store,” says Kudrinko of his decision to install the PAD. “We’re definitely concerned and interested in their safety and well-being, and thought this was a worthwhile investment to promote that.”

Public safety is a key concern for Kudrinko, who has paid for about 12 of his staff to receive first-aid training.

While no customer has even gone into full cardiac arrest in his 25 years operating the store, Kudrinko says there have been several instances of people experiencing medical distress that required a panicked 911 call.

“I don’t think it’s a matter of if we would ever have anybody in need in a defibrillator, it’s a matter of when,” he says.

David Dargie, a volunteer with the Leeds, Grenville and Lanark chapter of the St. John Ambulance Brigade–which serves an estimated 750,000 people in the region–says that using a PAD within two minutes of a cardiac event increases the likelihood of the person’s survival by as much as 60%.

Dargie says his group's goal is for PADs to be as common as fire extinguishers.

The region has seen a more than 700% increase in the number of PADs over the past five years, led by a combination of factors: lower prices (a PAD unit can now be installed for approximately $2,000) and growing awareness of their life-saving abilities.

“Anybody that has a large volume of people coming through their doors should be taking a close look at this,” says Dargie.