Imagine a Monday morning like any other… You walk into the office and make yourself a cup a coffee whilst catching up with your team about the weekend. All of a sudden, you hear the violent sound of a cup smashing and see one of your employees fall to the ground – unconscious, not breathing, with no pulse.

What would you do?

If the answer is “I don’t know,” the tragic reality is that without immediate CPR and a shock from a defibrillator (or ‘defib’), that person – your employee – would likely die within minutes.

As an employer, you’re responsible for the health and safety of your employees, but in order to be fully prepared you must first understand the number one risk facing Australia today – sudden cardiac arrest.

SOMETIMES it takes something terrible for something fantastic to happen.

When Michael “Mickey” Dean died last August after suffering chest pains playing for Southern and Ettalong United Football Club, his wife Peta campaigned for defibrillators to be installed at sports grounds. One such device at Umina Oval saved its first life after Nathan Mark suffered a heart attack playing for the Gosford City Dragons the weekend before last.

The 40-year-old was kept alive by team mates, as well as players from Umina and a surf lifesaver who just happened to be at the ground at the time, until paramedics arrived.

DEFIBRILLATORS for up to 30,000 athletes will be rolled out across sporting grounds after a $252,000 allocation. Blacktown will be the first council to have defibrillators at all its sports grounds.

During a cardiac arrest, defibrillators work by applying high voltage (between 200 to 1000 volts) to send an electric current through the heart to shock it into beating normally again. Elite young athletes are most vulnerable to cardiac arrests. The Heart Foundation said every passing minute without intervention reduced the rate of survival by 10 per cent. The defibrillators are expected to be rolled out by September.

Often the best inspiration comes from your customers. Well the past 10 days Defib has been out and about in the market place – Auckland, Adelaide, Melbourne and Wagga! That’s a few miles to cover, but its all been with the aim of continuing the education of the community of the necessity of having a defibrillator in their communities.

We have been asked some great questions; we have been able to dispel a number of myths and importantly the Defib team has been able to place a number of new defibrillators in a variety of communities.

So instead of keeping that data to ourselves, or waiting for the next marketing newsletter to come out, we thought we would share a few with you.

Do you have to be trained to use an Automatic External Defibrillator (AED)?

No, anyone can use it. At Defib For Life as part of our package we include a training session with all of our units to ensure that people are comfortable on how to use the AED in case of emergency and to encourage any questions.

If one of our players has SCA on the field and it’s raining, do we need to pull them out of the rain?

When faced with an emergency situation, it’s best to follow your first aid training in regards to ensuring that a victim is safe in their surroundings and you protect them, their necks and spine. In regards to using a defibrillator, the Defib for Life recommended units are resistant to moisture and dust, so taking them out of a controlled environment to the sporting field or the school playground is perfectly safe. We would recommend the patient be moved should they be lying in a pool of water, being mindful of other injuries.

Not all AED units offer this, so be mindful when selecting an AED.

Northern Illawarra Chamber of Commerce has helped secure two new defibrillators at Helensburgh Library and Thirroul District Community Centre and Library.

Chamber Vice President Tanya Parry came up with the idea.

“I reviewed our local surroundings and immediately noted a lack of resources, in particular, the absence of a local accessible emergency department. With the population of Helensburgh and Thirroul containing almost 20,000 people, this is a serious concern. The community response has been overwhelmingly thankful,” she said.