Community service has always been a big part of his life. From raising money for local causes to organizing seminars on Canadian health care for new immigrants, Dr. Kular has worked hard with his neighbours to make a difference in Brampton. Dr. Kular was first elected as a MPP for the riding in 2003. He is currently the Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Health and Long-Term Care and serves on multiple Committees. Dr. Kular is an avid jogger and enjoys skiing, gardening and travelling. For frequent updates, visit Kuldip Kular for more information.
This investment will provide the City of Brampton with important life-saving assistance. With access to AEDs, public facilities here will be safer, helping residents lead more active, healthy lives.
"The Heart and Stroke Foundation, in partnership with the Ministry of Health Promotion and Scotiabank, is making possible the purchase, the installation and the training for AEDs to be placed throughout Brampton," says Rocco Rossi, CEO, Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario. "With the help of individuals, community groups and corporate sponsors, one day AEDs will become as commonplace as fire extinguishers in Ontario."
The AEDs will be installed over the next few months in high-traffic public sites, selected in conjunction with the City of Brampton Emergency Medical Services. Eight to ten trained personnel will be available at each AED location to assist someone who is having a cardiac arrest.
"Through the Ministry of Health Promotion the province has provided $3 million to bring 1,000 AEDs to public facilities in communities throughout Ontario to help save lives," said Dr. Kular, Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Health and Long-Term Care. "Placing these devices in high-traffic public facilities makes sense because we know that roughly 17 to 20 per cent of cardiac arrests happen outside the home and, in addition to intervening with Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR), defibrillators are the only definitive treatment for Sudden Cardiac Arrest."
According to the Heart and Stroke Foundation, in Ontario alone, approximately 7,000 cardiac arrests occur each year. The odds of survival for an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest are approximately five per cent. With each passing minute, the probability of survival declines by seven-to-10 percent.
"Because the odds are almost four times greater if someone performs CPR immediately, and when combined with early defibrillation, AEDs can increase survival rates to 50 per cent or more if delivered in the first few minutes", stated Mary Pat McBride, Aquatics Co-ordinator, City of Brampton.