Already known for its investment in community through housing, healthcare and supporting youth, the Kiwanis Club of Oak Bay added a jolt to its iconic beach-side eatery this summer.
The club saved up to purchase an automatic external defibrillator (AED) now installed at the Kiwanis Tea Room at Willows Beach Park.
“The club just felt, there have been (cardiac) arrests on the beach, and you do CPR but you’re waiting for first response from the fire department or B.C. Ambulance, so we felt over the last year and a bit it would be advisable and beneficial to the community if we had one accessible at the tea room,” said past president Gerry Adam.
A former Oak Bay fire chief – as is the current Kiwanis president Dave Cockle – Adam recalls the days of dispatching an ambulance from the hall on Monterey Avenue. Calls for kids were the hardest.
While they don’t anticipate needing it, the club purchased a defibrillator that can be used by an untrained responder on both adults and children.
“Knowing that unit has that ability, it’s just a good warm feeling,” Adam said, adding summer staff and club members will get a demonstration on the equipment. “It’s very user friendly and it talks to you … it walks you through the whole process.”
Funds raised through the tea room, originally built in 1949, support community causes and functions including parks projects, scouts, scholarships, a dementia care home and lower-income seniors’ housing.
The tea room at Willows Beach Park in Oak Bay is open Tuesday to Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. right through the end of September.
“On a sunny day the place is busy,” Adam said. “The regulars rain or shine, they’re walking the beach or the path and they’ll come in for coffee. It’s a nice little hub.”
