The B.C. government and the Heart and Stroke Foundation are each contribution one-million dollars to provide 450 defibrillators in public places to help save the lives of people who suffer heart attacks.
The devices will be placed in community centres, arenas, recreation centres, sports centres and other locations where there's an increased risk of someone suffering cardiac arrest.
Health Minister Margaret MacDiarmid says more than two thousand people die in B.C. each year from a heart attack, and increased access to defribillators can help save many of those lives.
Statistics show the survival rate of someone struck with a heart attack can be increased up to 75 per cent if a defibrillator is used within five minutes.
