A defibrillator was nearby when his heart stopped not even 911 knew where it was

Michael Fowlie's heart stopped beating just 800 metres from a device that could have saved his life.

Fowlie, an award-winning accountant,was just 28 when he went into cardiac arrest on a sunny Saturday afternoon three years ago while cycling along Purcells Cove Road in Halifax.

Seven minutes later, a bystander began chest compressions. Fowlie'swindow of survival was closing as the first ambulance pulled up.

A crowd of people were atthe scene, but no one knew aportable defibrillator, which could have reset Fowlie's heartbeat and saved his life, was lying on a sailboat at a yacht club less than a kilometre away.

"My main concern was why didn't they send someone to get that defibrillator, or to get the nearest defibrillator?" says Fowlie'sfather, David Fowlie.

"I don't want a cardiac arrest to happen and there be a machine nearby that no one is sent to retrieve. I don't want that to happen to anyone. And yet, right now, I think it does happen to people."

Portable defibrillators can be found in schools, rinks, businesses and community centres across the Atlantic region, but there is no public information about how many there are or where they are located.

A CBC News Investigation has learnedmany defibrillators in Atlantic Canada are not registered with provincial authorities, and even 911 dispatchers often don't know where the life-saving devices are located, making it impossible for them todirect bystandersto the nearest one.

If MichaelFowliehad collapsed in the western provinces or parts of Ontario, the 911 dispatcher could have told bystanders if an automated external defibrillator (AED) was nearby and instructedsomeone to fetch it quickly.

A dispatcher in Kingston, Ont., would send out an alert to people in the area with an app and a stranger could haveshown up within minutes, defibrillator in hand.

None of that would happen in Atlantic Canada.

Cardiac arrest is a big killer in Canada, with an estimated 40,000 deaths annually, according totheHeart and Stroke Foundation.It can be caused by a heart attack, but it can also strike people of all ages when an abnormal heart rhythm interferes with the heart's electrical system.

Defibrillators apply a shock that can stop thedisruptionof the heart's normal contractions. When it works, the heart resetsback into a normal rhythm before a person's organs and brain begin to die and resumes pumping blood.

How to use an automated external defibrillator (AED)

7 years ago

Duration 1:24

Life-saving portable defibrillators are in schools, rinks, businesses and community centres across Atlantic Canada. But there's a problem: Even 911 dispatchers often don't know the locations.

There is a provincial defibrillator registryinNew Brunswick. But a 911 dispatcher wouldonly be alerted to a device if the address of the call exactly matches the address where the defibrillator is registered. Dispatchers wouldn't be aware of any defibrillators nearby.

Until now, that has also been the case inNova Scotia. The province recently installednew software that wouldallow emergency health dispatchers to locate any devicesin the area surrounding a call, as longas they are on theprovincial registry.

Dispatchers, however, are not yet using the software.

Tracy Barron, aspokesperson for the health department, said it has been running in the background sinceMarch, butthe province only received approval to start usingit in the past week because of privacy issues.

Newfoundland and Labrador only set up a provincewide 911 system in 2015 and there are no plans for an AED registry. Prince Edward Island plans to unveil one this fall.

Patchwork of systems

Across the country, there is a patchwork of systems. Dispatchers in British Columbia can tell a caller the address of any device within 200 metres of a cardiac emergency. Dispatchers inOntario may direct people to the nearest defibrillator, depending on the municipality.

Manitoba is the only jurisdiction wherelegislationmakes it mandatory to place defibrillators in locations such as schools, airports, golf courses and community centres, and to ensure they arelisted on a provincial registry. Businesses and organizations that have their own devices may register them to the provincial network, although it's not required. In total, 3,830 are registered.

Rhae Ann Bromley, directorof communications with the Heart and Stroke Foundation in Manitoba, said whether dispatchers can direct people to a nearby defibrillator "is highly dependent" onthe software and technology used for the system, and how much money is spent on it.

Several provinces have maps online that highlight the locations of available defibrillators. The numbers of devices vary. There is a network of 3,600 in Ontario and about 2,800 in Alberta.

Trying to 'arm twist' the government

The Nova Scotia government invites people to register their defibrillators and receive reminders about changing batteries and pads, but the provincial website offers no indication that registering a device could help in an emergency.

David Fowlie said few people know about theregistry and it's time the government took a bigger role in connectingtechnology that can save lives in an emergency.

"I'm trying to encourage and arm twist the government to change their policy, to provide that information," he said. "Nova Scotians need to know that information so that this tragedy doesn't happen to someone else."

Fowlie believes a successful awareness campaign could change attitudes the same way seatbelts were normalized and drunk driving was stigmatized. He wouldlike to see defibrillatorsat coffee shops andATMs, in addition to schools, rinks, airports and gyms.

He said a public map of public defibrillator locations is a first step,but he wouldalso like to see more efforts to educate young people on how to use them.

"Within 15 years, you would have a generation that would know some sort of information to use during emergency situations in the availability and usage of AEDs," he said.

New N.S. system coming

Fowliehad been told by Nova Scotia health officials that new software to help Emergency Health Services, and peopleat the communications centre that advises callers,know the location of defibrillators would be in place months ago.

There are a total of 240 devices on the provincial registry. Barronsaid the department will be contacting people who own devices this week and, with their consent, inputtheir information into the new system.

Once theinformation is added, people who have thosedefibrillators will be alerted when there is an emergency in theirarea.

"If a call comes in within a certain radius, that responder can actually get a voice or a text notification saying that there's a cardiac arrest nearby and their AED is needed," saidMike Janczyszyn, who was hired as Nova Scotia Emergency Health Services AED co-ordinator six months ago.

It's not clear why Michael Fowlie went into cardiac arrest. But his fatherhas spent the past three years piecing together his son's final moments.

It's through that research that David Fowlie learned there was a defibrillator not far from where his son collapsed. There is no guarantee it would have been on a public registry, but hebelieves another device nearby might have.

There are other details, too.Through a series of letters and meetings with health officials, he learned that one of the two ambulances sent to treat hisson took a roundabout route that he believes doubled the response time.

In Nova Scotia, the Emergency Health Servicesdispatchers who talk to callers are supposed to ask people if there is a defibrillator nearby, but in Michael Fowlie's case, that didn't happen.

His father still struggles to understand why the emergency dispatcherdidn't direct someone to start chest compressions after the caller said his son's breathing sounded like snoring a telltale sign of cardiac arrest.

"I do believe that Emergency Health Services, and medical communications, being the dispatcher, did fail Michael. They didn't give him any chance to survive the cardiac arrest," said Fowlie.

"Through the number of errors, yes they were negligent in providing help when he needed it the most. At his greatest time of need in life, this was not available for him."

In a statement, Barron said the Health Department has improved the technology that routes ambulances as well the waydispatchers coach callers with CPR.

'Still don't have all those answers'

David Fowlie said he hopes the Health Department reviews any future cardiac arrest cases to ensure similar errors don't happen.

"Unfortunately, the more answers I received, the more information I wanted. And I wanted to know what happened. And I still don't have all those answers," he said.

"Michael would want me to continue on until there is some change that is positive for the people within Nova Scotia."