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.

Almost two-thirds of Victorians say they will perform CPR if they see someone in cardiac arrest, a good Samaritan intervention which doubles a victim’s chances of survival.

Some 64 per cent of onlookers attempted CPR when they witnessed someone collapsed from cardiac arrest during the past financial year, according to the Victorian Ambulance Cardiac Arrest Registry annual report released on Friday.

That’s up from 35 per cent in 2005/06.

More people also know how to use portable defibrillators than a decade ago, which has further improved the likelihood of a person surviving.

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PARK CITY, Utah — One of four automatic emergency defibrillators (AEDs) installed last summer in Park City may have already saved a man’s life, and it happened during the Sundance Film Festival.

Trevor Christensen was standing 30 feet away when a man collapsed on a sidewalk in the city.

“I ran over there and then let him know I used to be paramedic,” Christensen said.

As Christensen began doing chest compressions on the victim, other bystanders also took action. One called 911 and another ran to find an AED.  As it turns out, the life-saving device happened to have been installed right across the street.

“The AED being right there across the street at the time he went down was just amazing,” Christensen said.

Christensen used the AED to deliver a shock, then continued with chest compressions. About 20 seconds later, he said, the victim responded.

“He actually looked at me and extended his hand up and said ‘Thank you,’ which was wild,” Christensen recalled.

Sgt. Jay Randall, Park City Police Department, credits Christensen and the user-friendly AEDs with saving the man’s life.

“It was a great, great testament not only to the technology, but the people that have the confidence in the technology to go find it and use it,” Randall said.

Christensen stressed that AED devices are not just for people with medical emergency training.

“They make them easy to operate. All you have to do is literally just unzip it or open it up and it tells you what to do,” Christensen said.

Park City police say heart attack calls are fairly common in the city, as the high altitude exacerbates heart and breathing problems.

Every year we see far too many Australians die as a result of sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) at sporting events. The key to saving lives rest essentially with the education of our greater sporting community and governing bodies to recognise the vital role that defibrillators and cardio pulmonary resuscitation (CPR) play in preventing premature death.

Many victims are in the prime of their lives, young, apparently fit and healthy and without warning they suddenly collapse due to the onset of a lethal cardiac arrhythmia. SCA is caused by a sudden disruption to the heart’s electrical component, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) being one of the leading causes along with blockage of the coronary arteries (heart attack). It does not discriminate and can affect all ages, gender and it’s not just the competitors at risk, it can happen to officials and spectators alike.

Thankfully, victims of a cardiac arrest can be saved if early intervention is at hand. The key to survival ultimately depends upon how well bystanders react to this critical emergency.

To read the full article please click here: Defib Article Andrew White

On Sunday, February 28, St Ives Football Club held a tribute match at Macquarie University Oval to remember their player, Emin Rufati who they tragically lost his life last season.

“Maybe a defibrillator could have helped, I don’t know. I will never know now.” Mrs Rufati said.