Hello. My name is Bruno Gendron, and I have been a police officer with the City of Ottawa Police Service for 10 years. Before that, I worked as a paramedic in Ottawa for 17 years.
Since joining the Ottawa Police Service, I have been in charge of the defibrillator program, which was launched in 2001. The Ottawa Paramedic Service partnered with the City of Ottawa to install defibrillators in patrol cars. There are currently 171 defibrillators assigned to the Police Service. The main objective of installing defibrillators is to support patrol officers who respond to 911 calls. There is a defibrillator in each marked police cruiser.
Police respond as soon as they receive a request from the paramedic service following a 911 call. They may be dealing with a person who is unconscious, is having seizures, or is in cardiac arrest. In the City of Ottawa there are 42 patrols at all times. Therefore, there are 42 defibrillators available in the city at all times. The City of Ottawa alone has more defibrillators than paramedics and firefighters combined.
There is an advantage to having defibrillators in police cruisers. Most of the time, police officers are in their vehicles ready to respond to a call. In my experience, paramedics spend most of their time at an ambulance station or hospital. When they must respond to a call, it takes time to get on the road and respond. There is always a delay of one to two minutes before they can respond to the call, whereas a police officers sitting in their vehicle can react more quickly when they receive a call.
There is another important factor. Police officers work in different areas of the city. They know their neighbourhood, where there is construction and which roads are closed, for example. That is advantageous. The response time is critical when someone is in cardiac arrest because time matters. In Ottawa, defibrillators are used an average of six times a month, and police use of defibrillators saves at least two people every year.
There is a disadvantage to putting a defibrillator in a police car. Defibrillators must be stored indoors and at a certain temperature. Ottawa's climate is a little problematic. The electrodes are made of gel and can freeze if stored at very cold temperatures, which can cause problems in the long term. There is not enough space to keep the defibrillators in the cab, where the police officers sit. Thus, the defibrillator must be put in the trunk. That is one of the problems.
The defibrillator comes with a first aid kit, which includes a mask to be put on when the device is being used.
Our joint program with the City of Ottawa and Ottawa Paramedic Service works very well. We have been using the defibrillators since 2001, and there has never been any question of taking the defibrillators out of police vehicles.