TORONTO — Attention truckers across the Great White North. You’ve just been challenged: Get defibrillators into your rigs and train your drivers to use them.

That’s from one Hugh Heron, president of southern Ontario-based Heathwood Homes and chairman of the MIKEY Network, a charitable organization devoted to placing heart defibrillators in as many public places as possible.

Heron issued the industry challenge this week at the same time as the moving company Two Men and A Truck announced that they’re outfitting each of their 63 trucks with defibrillators and their staff with proper training.

Having MIKEYs on the Two Men and A Truck trucks increases the chances of having one accessible when the unexpected happens.

Commented Two Men and Truck COO Dan Hopkins: “We hope we never have to use these MIKEYs, but when you consider the physical nature of moving, it makes sense to have defibrillators on our trucks, in case our movers or families involved in a move have a problem.

“And, there is always the possibility of someone going into sudden cardiac arrest walking down the street, or perhaps being in a car accident. So with our trucks on the road, we are now in a position to be able to respond should someone need help.”

The “MIKEY” Network was launched after a real-estate executive named Mike Salem died of Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA) on a Muskoka Golf course in 2002. His life might have been saved if a defibrillator had been available.

To date, there are over 1,200 MIKEYs placed in high-risk locations across Canada and 12 lives have been saved. (Each defibrillator unit costs about $3,000, which includes training.)

According to a statement from the MIKEY Network, the use of a public-access defibrillator by a trained responder within the first moments can improve the victim’s survival rate by up to 75 percent.

And, added Heron: “We challenge other companies who use the roads to follow suit and install MIKEYs and have their staff trained.”

Ever conscious of the industry’s image, Two Men and A Truck is the same outfit that introduced a “Customer’s Bill of Rights” a few years ago after a few less-than-honorable moving companies attracting some pretty bad press.