AS this month celebrates Ambulance Victoria’s annual ‘Shocktober’ campaign, members of Hamilton’s Combined Probus Club, gathered last week to refresh their cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) skills and learn about how to use an Automated External Defibrillator (AED).

Every day, around 19 Victorians suffer a cardiac arrest but only one in 10 people survive, now in its third year, Shocktober is a nationally recognised campaign aimed at improving these figures.

Locally, several events will take place in the coming weeks to reinforce the message to locals and celebrate Shocktober.

The presentation held last week was run by Port Fairy ambulance paramedic, Mike Cornett, and Southern Grampians and Barwon South West Region paramedic community support coordinator, Jim Falla, who said attendees responded well to the presentation. 

“We had all sorts of questions from the floor about their specific locations, people’s experiences, we had some great feedback from people who had had ambulance attendance in the past, (and) we also had a gentleman in town who is retired now, but was a cardiac surgeon in his professional life, so he came up afterwards and talked about his experience back in the 1980s,” he said.

“We talked about the chain of survival and how important normal people within the community are - you don’t have to be trained in first aid, you don’t have to be an expert, you don’t have to be a medical professional - anyone can do it.

“Then we had a practical session for people who wanted to have a try and see what it was like to do compressions and to use the actual AED training device that we have.”

According to data from Ambulance Victoria (AV), when someone receives CPR and a shock from an AED before paramedics arrive, they are more than twice as likely to survive.

With the use of public AEDs nearly doubling in the last ten years, AV is spreading the message that three simple steps that can save a life; Call (Call Triple Zero 000), Push (Perform CPR) and Shock (Use an AED by opening it and following the verbal instructions).

The Combined Probus Club presentation also covered the AEDs around town and resources locals can use to locate one of the lifesaving machines in an emergency.

“The AED locations around town is something that we really encourage people to just be aware of,” Mr Falla said.

“So, if something does happen, you can either go and get the AED yourself or you can send someone.

“You can look at registermyaed.ambulance.vic.gov.au - if you put that into a search it will bring up the AV site where all the registered AEDs are.”

Mr Falla also said Shocktober provided a platform to remind locals to register their AED devices and store them in an easily accessible location where they can be used by any member of the community.

“There’s a lot of AEDs that aren’t registered - anyone can go and buy one and it’s not a requirement to register it - but if it’s not registered and you’re the only person who knows where it is then it is not as useful,” he said.

“Most people who buy an AED think, ‘Well, I hope I never have to use it’, but they would be happy to save anyone’s life.

“It is the sort of thing that we encourage people to make available for their next-door neighbour or person across the road.”

Anyone can make a difference this Shocktober by learning CPR, how to use an AED, or by becoming a GoodSAM responder through signing up at heartrestarter.com.au.

Being a GoodSAM responder means you can be notified through the GoodSAM App if you are physically close to someone in cardiac arrest so you can begin lifesaving care while an ambulance is enroute.

GoodSAM responders must be over 18 years old, have access to a smartphone, and be willing and able to do hands-on CPR.

Local clubs, organisations, or businesses interested in receiving a talk from Ambulance Victoria can contact Mr Falla on southerngrampians.pcsc@ambulance.vic.gov.au

For information about the GoodSAM app visit heartrestarter.com.au and for information on how to do CPR and use an AED, visit ambulance.vic.gov.au