The Kinglake community has received a major health boost, with a new heart-starting device installed in town as part of the Heart Safe Community program.
The program is a joint initiative between Ambulance Victoria (AV) and the Heart Foundation, which equips residents of communities across the state with the skills to take life-saving action when someone suffers a cardiac arrest.
The new automated external defibrillator (AED) is located at the Pheasant Creek General Store, 884 Whittlesea-Kinglake Road, Kinglake West.
The new automated external defibrillator (AED) is located at the Pheasant Creek General Store, 884 Whittlesea-Kinglake Road, Kinglake West.
AEDs are used during a cardiac arrest to shock the patient's heart back into normal function.
Whittlesea paramedic Cassie Carr said it was a life-saving addition to the local community.
"When I began the Heart Safe project in my local community of Kinglake, I found there was a black spot in the whole of Kinglake West with not one registered AED," Cassie said.
"It's really important to have a registered AED available for health emergencies, so the Triple Zero (000) call-taker can advise bystanders where an AED is, and encourage them to use it while an ambulance is on the way."
Minutes matter in cardiac arrests, and when a patient receives CPR and a shock from an AED before paramedics arrive, their chance of survival more than doubles.
The local Ambulance Victoria Community Emergency Response Team were on-site to provide CPR demonstrations and taught locals how to use an AED.
The AED was installed last weekend, with the local AV Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) providing CPR demonstrations and teaching locals how to use an AED.
"It was great to have community members come by and learn some life-saving skills, and we even had a few GoodSAM sign ups," Cassie said.
The GoodSAM app is a life-saving smartphone app that connects Victorians in cardiac arrest with members of the community who are willing to start CPR in the critical minutes before paramedics arrive.
"Anyone who knows hands-only CPR can save a life by becoming a GoodSAM Responder today," Cassie said.
"You don't have to be first-aid qualified or have a medical background, you just need to be willing and able to do hands-only CPR, be over 18 years of age and have access to a smartphone."
Community Emergency Response Teams (CERTs) are comprised of volunteer First Responders, located in less populated and more remote areas of the state, who are dispatched at the same time as an ambulance in response to a Triple Zero (000) call.
Registered AEDs in Kinglake and across Victoria can be found here.
