Man, 38, dies playing ball hockey at school gym

A 38-year-old man died Tuesday night after he went into cardiac arrest during a recreational ball-hockey game at an Ottawa school gymnasium.

Ottawa paramedics said the man collapsed at a Maitland Avenue school at about 6:50 p.m. Bystanders had started CPR before paramedics arrived, but paramedics were unable to resuscitate him. He was later pronounced dead.

Paramedics said an automatic external defibrillator, or AED, a device that is available at all City of Ottawa recreational facilities, was not available in this case.

The presence of an AED may have been a factor in a successful resuscitation just over an hour earlier in Hintonburg.

In that instance, a 52-year-old man was playing hockey at Tom Brown Arena on Bayview Road when he collapsed on the bench.

City staff at the arena started CPR and shocked the man's heart with their defibrillator.

Paramedics arrived and provided medication intravenously. The man regained a pulse at the scene.

Ottawa Paramedic Service superintendent Paul Morneau said automated defibrillators have saved more than 30 people in the last decade in Ottawa.

Defibrillators are in 800 locations across the city, particularly at city buildings. Morneau said it's a good idea for any organization that has many people gathering to consider buying one and training staff to use it.

"Basically, the chain of survival is early CPR, early defibrillation, early advanced life support paramedics and then definitive care as well to the hospital," said Morneau.