It appears someone is taking NAIT’s emergency equipment. Five defibrillators or AED’s have been stolen in the span of a month from 2nd floor F-wing, main CAT floor, 1st floor U Building, Y building (Spartan) and the A Building corridor. Christine Bannerman, Supervisor of Health Services for the past two and a half years, says the reason for the thefts could be a dire one.
“If someone had a sick family member, most likely one with an irregular heartbeat, there are really no other purposes for one other than personal,” said Bannerman.
Although medical equipment like this is expensive, it doesn’t mean a thief can cash in on a big payday either.
“We tried pulling them apart and seeing what the parts go for and there is not much of a market out there. Plus every AED has a serial number stamped onto them so if they were sold and used the serial number of the unit would be recorded and it would then be reported as stolen.”
The AED’s cost NAIT between $1800-2400 and have already been replaced in those five locations.
“We just ask that people keep an eye on them and report any that ever go missing so that we can replace them. And also to report anything you see to protective services or to the NAIT [Alert] security app.
Bannerman also mentioned that recently the defibrillators have helped save lives. In a three month period between April-June 2016 the AED’s had to be dispatched twice and those who needed it survived in both cases.
Protective Services was reached for comment but could not due to it being an ongoing investigation.
– Wyatt Zieger
