By Kurtis Doering

Walmart Canada hesitant to install defibrillators

Mar 24, 2015 | 8:18 AM

When 62-year-old John Tomchuk went into cardiac arrest in the parking lot of a Saskatoon Walmart, those who helped to save his life discovered that the giant retailer didn’t have an Automated External Defibrillator (AED).

Tomchuk survived thanks to a pair of off-duty nurses who performed 20 minutes of CPR, and a third person who ran to the nearby Cabela’s to retrieve that store’s AED.

“Those two ladies could not have done the good job that they did without that third critical piece of equipment,” said Tomchuk’s daughter Lisa Kusch, adding her whole family was surprised to hear the Walmart didn’t have a defibrillator.

A similar scene unfolded in Kirksville, Missouri back in 2011. A man suffered a heart attack outside the local Walmart, and despite the efforts of a first-year medical student who administered CPR, the man’s heart stopped before county ambulance services arrived. There was no AED inside the store.

No Walmart location in Canada has an emergency defibrillator on site. In a statement, director of corporate affairs Alex Roberton said the retailer is “still in the process of evaluating the need and feasibility for our stores to maintain a defibrillator.”

Freedom and Flexibility

How App-Based Work Creates Economic Opportunity

Dec 12, 2025

Riderville

Now for the Hard Part

Dec 10, 2025

Seniors Scene

Christmas is Coming

Dec 09, 2025

Roberton notes that a first aid and a CPR-trained employee is always on shift, as required by law.
 
Survival rates increase by 50 per cent if both defibrillation and CPR are administered in the first few minutes, according to the Heart and Stroke Foundation. With each passing minute, that chance of survival drops by up to 10 per cent.

“We are working with governments and businesses to install AEDs in all public places, so that they are as common as fire extinguishers,” the foundation said in a statement. “We encourage any business that has a high volume of customers or staff to consider installing one.”

Tammy Reddekopp has been teaching first aid and CPR for more than two decades. She currently works as a Saskatchewan sales representative for Phillips AEDs.

Reddekopp said she once sold an AED to Walmart’s Stonebridge location in Saskatoon, but it was later returned for a refund.

She said often in working with large retail chains, store employees will quickly adopt the idea of having an AED for emergencies, but corporate head offices will be reluctant in the face of liability concerns.

“They still have this idea that it’s this big medical procedure like they’d see on TV where there’s these paddles and stuff like that, so they’re uncomfortable with having that in their company, feeling that there might be a liability,” Reddekopp said. “But it isn’t a medical act. This is no different than offering someone a first-aid kit with Band-Aids.”

Reddekopp sells AEDs for between $1,600 and $2,000. She said the devices are designed to be foolproof. Sometimes, people with no training in their use have used them effectively.

“I try to educate them; I send them all the statistics and brochures and video links … and yet, there’s been some situations where corporations just said ‘no’,” she said.

The life-saving potential of AEDs is starting to be recognized by some governments. In 2013, Manitoba enacted legislation requiring the devices to be installed in high-traffic public places such as gyms, arenas, golf courses, schools and airports. Notably, that list does not include private businesses.

That same year, Stephen Harper announced $10 million in funding for AEDs in hockey arenas Canada-wide.

All 50 U.S. states have some form of legislation requiring AEDs in public locations, though the scope and scale of those laws fluctuate wildly from state to state.

 – With files from News Talk’s Lasia Kretzel

news@panow.com

On Twitter: @princealbertnow