Emergency Health Services Nova Scotia has launched an online map showing the locations of registered automatic external defibrillators, or AEDs.

Emergency Health Services Nova Scotia has launched an online map showing the locations of registered automatic external defibrillators, or AEDs.

Defibrillators are life-saving devices that shock the heart to restore normal rhythms when a person is having a heart attack or cardiac arrest.

EHS AED registry coordinator, Mike Janczyszyn, told NEWS 95.7's The Sheldon MacLeod Show anyone can use one even if they haven't been trained.

"Just turn it on, it will actually prompt you as to the next step," he explained.

The map features 684 devices, including first responders' defibrillators and public defibrillators at businesses and community organizations.

The website shows the exact addresses of the portable devices so Nova Scotians can find the AED closest to them.

"It's important to know the map is informational ... it's meant to be there as a resource for people to look and see where they are," Janczyszyn explained.

To find the map or register an AED, visit savelivesns.ca.