Bulla residents are now better equipped to save lives from cardiac arrest after a community program aimed at improving public awareness and preparedness.
The 12-month Heart Safe Community initiative by Ambulance Victoria and the Heart Foundation aims to improve survival rates for cardiac arrest by teaching residents in selected communities how to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and use an automated external defibrillator (AED).
The initiative also aims to promote the GoodSAM service, where a phone application is used to connect with local responders trained in CPR.
Over the past year in Bulla, the program provided training to 225 community members, installed two public AEDs, and assigned two GoodSAM responders.
Ambulance Victoria metropolitan regional director Vanessa Gorman congratulated the Bulla community.
“Minutes matter in a cardiac arrest, and I’m so pleased these communities are now in a better position to save more lives, understanding the importance of bystander intervention and calling Triple Zero immediately,” Ms Gorman said.
“Cardiac arrest can happen to anyone, anywhere and at any time,” she said.
Every day, about 21 Victorians have a cardiac arrest and only one in 10 survive, with CPR and use of an AED more than doubling a person’s chance of survival.
October 16 marks Restart a Heart Day – a global initiative that encourages people to learn CPR and how to use an AED.
Oscar Parry
