Neighbours Saving Neighbour Program – Progress Report and a 'Save'

Jeff Green | Mar 27, 2024

Community Paramedic Jason Kervin coordinates the Neighbours Saving Neighbours program (NSN), in Frontenac County. The program was launched last year, thanks to a partnership between Frontenac Paramedics and Queens Professor Steven Brooks, whose research project has provided funding for the program.

The program provides Automatic External Defibrillators (AEDs) and training for volunteers in Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) and the use of AEDs. Those volunteers are then notified, via a cell phone app, whenever they are within 10 kilometres of a cardiac arrest event. In a rural area such as Frontenac County, these volunteers are sometimes able to arrive on scene when someone is in cardiac arrest more quickly than professional first responders, and thus treatment begins more quickly than otherwise.

As Jason Kervin told Frontenac County Council last week, “survivability of patients experiencing cardiac arrest diminishes by 10% as each minute passes before CPR and defibrillation is commenced.”

After a period of recruitment and training, Neighbours Saving Neighbours started up in September of 2023. There are 89 active volunteers in the program from across Frontenac County, and each of them have been outfitted with an AED.

Kervin said that while a number of the volunteers are off duty firefighters, nurses and doctors, most of them are not health care professionals.

In the first six months of the program, there have been 19 responses, and on 4 occasions the Neighbour Saving Neighbour volunteer was the first on the scene. On two of those occasions CPR and AEDs were employed.

“I'm very proud to report that on one occasion an Neighbour Saving Neighbour volunteer played a key role in the survival of a Frontenac County resident by arriving on scene in just under 4 minutes, initiating CPR and applying an AED and providing emergency care for about 6 minutes before any professional responders arrived.”

Mark Sherwin, the volunteer, was present at the meeting and received a commendation from Frontenac County Chief of Paramedic Services, Gale Chevalier.

Kervin gave advanced notice to Council that the Neighbours Saving Neighbours project will need renewed funding if it is to continue after its pilot ends a year from now.It is run by Frontenac County with funding from a research grant that Steven Brooks secured.

“The program will end in March of 2025, that's when the grant runs out,” Kervin said, and he added that he is hoping that Frontenac County will take on the program after that time.

He said that there are details to be worked out within the next year, to see how the program can continue on after the research grant ends. One issue is the ownership of over 90 AEDs that have been purchased through the grant. They may need to be purchased by Frontenac County if the county takes on the program, or they may be gifted to the county. Kervin said that a cost to continue the program, and to increase the number of volunteers over time, will come to Council from Frontenac Paramedics senior management later in the year.

He also said that of the four occasions when AEDs have been employed by Neighbours Saving Neighbours, two took place in South Frontenac, one on Wolfe Island and one in Central Frontenac.

“NSN is a useful and necessary program,” said Mark Sherwin, who received a commendation at the meeting.

“Many of us are already trained and equipped, so I hope the program continues after the pilot project ends next year. It’s a small price to pay for saving someone’s life.”

Further information about Neighbours Saving Neighbours can be found at www.engagefrontenac.ca/neighbours-saving-neighbours