Mayor Hec Lavigne of Callander says he needs more medical attention after suffering what he calls a "heart event" last week.
Lavigne told BayToday, "My heart stopped. I am in Sudbury having a defibrillator installed. Need to wait until Thursday. I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for Marc Picard and his crew things would have been different."
Lavigne, who will be acclaimed as mayor, wrote on his Facebook page Friday, "In case you heard through the grapevine, I did have a heart event, not a heart attack. Thanks to those, including at Val’s Equipment, who found me blanked out on their parking lot and my friend Marc Picard for reviving me."
He continues, "I need a defib installed but that does really concern me as they wanted to do that years ago but I didn’t want to (stupid)."
Lavigne says he was standing normally one minute and out the next.
"So, don’t count me out, just a brief set back," he concludes.
His friend Marc Picard responded "This was a total team effort Hec Lavigne. Shawn and the staff at Val’s called 911 immediately, while my staff dispatched EMS and Fire, my Supervisor Greg, recognized that the call was next door. He had the forethought to grab the automatic external defibrillator from our lobby and we headed over to help. The Paramedics then arrived and took over your care. I can’t think of a better outcome!"
To which Lavigne replied, "Thanks to everyone, I don’t know what else to say. I owe all of you big time."
Family member Lynne Lavigne highlighted the importance of the availability of defibrillators, which are becoming more common in businesses and public areas.
"Marc you and your team are guardian angels. Thank you so much for everything you have done for our family. On another note, the Defibrillators are life-saving machines and I thank God that they are posted in many locations and that people are being trained to save lives."
According to Wikipedia, defibrillation is a treatment for life-threatening cardiac dysrhythmias, specifically ventricular fibrillation (VF) and non-perfusing ventricular tachycardia (VT).[1][2] A defibrillator delivers a dose of electric current (often called a countershock) to the heart. Although not fully understood, this would depolarize a large amount of the heart muscle, ending the dysrhythmia. Subsequently, the body's natural pacemaker in the sinoatrial node of the heart is able to re-establish normal sinus rhythm.
In 2005, the North Bay Professional Paramedics Association and the District of Nipissing Social Services Administration Board teamed up to launch an exciting and life-saving initiative in the Nipissing District.
The goal of the project, entitled “Lifeline – Every Minute is a Lifetime”, was to place public access defibrillators (PADs) in eight community centres in the Nipissing District, which include North Bay, Astorville, Temagami, Mattawa, Sturgeon Falls and Verner.
