SASKATOON -- A Saskatoon nursing student is calling for more businesses to have automated external defibrillators (AED) after her mother collapsed suddenly and died at a local mall earlier this month.

Krista Kut is trying to make sense of the last moments of her mother’s life.

On Feb. 4, she said her mother, Valerie Edith Caspick, was at Confederation Mall for some blood work. After finishing up, she went for a tea in the food court when she suddenly fell to the ground.

"By the time she hit the floor, they said she didn't have a pulse,” Kut said.

Kut said her father was with her mother at the time and called 911.

She said a security guard said there was no AED on site and started CPR while waiting for paramedics to arrive.

"By that time, five to 10 minutes had passed. And then they never got her back. Not once. And they tried for 45 minutes,” Kut said.

Kut said the day before this happened, her mother, who was 52, felt sick and went to the doctor, where she got an EKG done that came back clear.

Kut said an autopsy has yet to be done to determine the cause of death.

Management at Confederation Mall declined to comment but staff said a few businesses within the mall do have AEDs, including LifeLabs and CBI Health Centre.

Troy Davies with Medavie Health Services said not only is it important to have these devices, it’s important to have signage so people know where they are.

"Cardiac arrest can happen anywhere at any time and timing is of the essence. A general rule we typically use is after every minute you go without having CPR or an AED, you lose a 10 per cent chance of survival,” he said.

Davies said about 1,100 businesses and public spaces in Saskatoon have AEDs as part of the Heart Safe Program.

Each device typically costs around $1,600, but are not mandatory, which Kut is trying to change.

"To rectify it and not have my mom die in vain. I want big establishments to have at least one person trained on them and for them to have one accessible to every store and maybe even every door."

Since Kut’s mother died unexpectedly, Davies said Confederation Mall has reached out asking to be part of the Heart Safe Program to add AEDs to its common spaces.