Helping Save Lives in British Columbia

Welcome to the BC Public Access to Defibrillation (PAD) Program. To help save lives, the Heart and Stroke Foundation of British Columbia is making Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) available in public places where there is a risk someone can suffer a cardiac arrest.

Through the PAD Program, the Foundation, in partnership with BC Emergency Health Services, will donate about 450 AEDs over three years to public places like recreation centres, arenas, pools, community centres, libraries, senior centres, busy playing fields, parks and beaches.

The Program will donate one or more AEDs to every municipality in British Columbia, depending on population size. The Heart and Stroke Foundation is working with local governments to identify priority locations and place AEDs. These locations are places where large numbers of people gather on a regular basis and/or emergency response times are longer than it takes to save a victim of sudden cardiac arrest. All venues will receive an orientation to their AED and learn how to respond to a sudden cardiac arrest from an emergency medical professional.

The BC PAD Program is the first step in what the Foundation believes needs to be a province-wide goal to place AEDs in all public spaces.

Program status update October 2018

Over 820 AEDs have been placed through the BC PAD Program so far. The program is coming to a close as we near the end of our funding and we expect to complete our placements before December. Applicants will be notified via email whether or not they will be receiving an AED.

If you would like to purchase a device, please refer to the manufacturers and suppliers questions lists.

Thank you for your interest in making your communities safer.

If you have any questions, please contact the BC PAD Program Coordinator at bcpad@hsf.bc.ca

Submit a
Survivor Story

Did you or someone you know survive a sudden cardiac arrest thanks to an AED? Share your story.

Get the Community
AED Toolkit

Find out everthing you need to know about receiving, installing and maintaining your donated AED.

Prepare for your
Venue Orientation

Here's what you will need to host a venue orientation.

What's New

	Learn CPR and how to use an AED in less than 90 seconds November 22, 2018 Learning CPR and how to use an AED has never been easier. Heart & Stroke’s two new whiteboard videos break down the steps so that if you see a person suddenly collapse and they don't respond when you touch or speak to them, you are ready to act fast.



	PulsePoint App launched in BC February 27, 2018 British Columbians now have smartphone technology which can turn bystanders into potential life-savers when a sudden cardiac arrest occurs in public. The PulsePoint application connects CPR-trained bystanders with the provincial 9-1-1 emergency dispatch system. Dispatchers can alert app users located within a short walking distance of a public cardiac arrest, so that rescuers can begin CPR while professional medical responders are on their way.



	Heart and Stroke Foundation recognizes Gianfranco Giammaria Memorial Society February 22, 2013 The new province-wide BC PAD Program builds on the efforts of many dedicated local and regional charitable groups and service agencies to place AEDs where they can save a life. However, in particular, the Heart and Stroke Foundation recognizes the significant work of the Gianfranco Giammaria Memorial Society in making Lower Mainland communities safer places with AEDs.



	PAD Program Launched at Vancouver Public Library February 06, 2013 Health Minister Margaret MacDiarmid and Heart and Stroke Foundation CEO Diego Marchese unveiled the PAD Program's first donated AED at the VPL on February 6.



	HSF calling for AED Legislation in BC January 23, 2013 The Heart and Stroke Foundation is advocating to government to establish AED legislation requiring AEDs to be placed in specific public locations.

The BC PAD Program Registry is a free service to all venues that have an AED.

Registering your AED ensures the information needed by BC Ambulance Service 9-1-1 dispatchers during a cardiac arrest is available to them and your community members. This information could mean the difference between life and death.

Venues with registered AEDs will also receive courtesy email reminders when AED pads and batteries need to be changed.

All recipients of AEDs donated by the Heart and Stroke Foundation are required to register and regularly update information about their device in the Registry.

For more information about how to manage your BC PAD Program AED, contact the BC PAD Program Coordinator at: BCPAD@bcehs.ca or by phone at
1-844-953-3911.

Helping Save Lives in British Columbia

Submit aSurvivor Story

Get the CommunityAED Toolkit

Prepare for yourVenue Orientation

Submit a
Survivor Story

Get the Community
AED Toolkit

Prepare for your
Venue Orientation