Port Moody police (PMPD) want to find whoever stole an automated external defibrillator (AED) from the lobby of the city’s recreation complex.
The device, which can be used to resuscitate someone in cardiac arrest and help stabilize them until first responders arrive, is mounted in a box that is freely accessible to the public.
But PMPD spokesperson Const. Sam Zacharias said staff believe the AED, valued at about $2,000, went missing sometime in the past couple of weeks.
“It is really troubling that someone would steal a device which serves such an important purpose for our community,” Zacharias said in a news release.
In 2017, an AED mounted at Kyle Centre was used to revive a ballroom dancer who had collapsed during a class.
In 2018, an off-duty New Westminster police officer used an AED mounted at a Coquitlam arena to help save a 27-year-old hockey player who had suffered a cardiac arrest.
Other such incidents have occurred at rinks in Burnaby and Richmond.
The Port Moody Oldtimers Hockey Association donated the city’s first AED unit for the recreation complex in 2010 and the devices are now standard in other civic facilities.
This includes city hall as well as Rocky Point and Westhill pools during the summer months.
Staff at the recreation centre receive training to use the AED along with standard first-aid instruction.
Anyone who knows the device's whereabouts or has information about the theft to contact PMPD at 604-461-3456 or by email, anonymously contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or go online to www.solvecrime.ca.
