Grant: Project Grant

Sudden cardiac arrest occurs when the heart stops beating unexpectedly. Every year, about 60,000 Canadians experience sudden cardiac arrest, and most do not survive. Survival depends on starting cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and using an automated external defibrillator (AED) within minutes. Paramedics do their best to respond quickly, but often arrive after seven minutes or more. The delay can be much longer in tall apartment buildings, and rural or remote areas. The Neighbours Saving Neighbours (NSN) program aims to close this gap by creating a reliable network of trained local volunteers equipped with AEDs and dispatched by 9-1-1 call centres. In an earlier pilot project, we showed it is possible to recruit, train, and equip volunteers and to alert them alongside professional responders. In this project, we will use advanced mapping to find the areas where cardiac arrests are most likely and where professional responders tend to take longer to arrive. We will place and train volunteers in these areas, adjust how far alerts are sent, and work with communities to boost recruitment and retention. We will then measure whether this optimized approach reduces the time to CPR, AED use, and defibrillation. We will also study how the program is put into practice, the experiences of volunteers and professionals, and the costs associated with the program. By getting the right help to the right place at the right time, NSN could save more lives, reduce health inequities, and provide a proven, scalable model for community emergency response across Canada.