General News
17 February, 2023
Good hearts at WAG
The life-saving capabilities of Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) were a hot topic at an open community event hosted by the Warracknabeal Action Group on Tuesday. AEDs are used to restore normal heart rhythm in people experiencing cardiac...
The life-saving capabilities of Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) were a hot topic at an open community event hosted by the Warracknabeal Action Group on Tuesday.
AEDs are used to restore normal heart rhythm in people experiencing cardiac arrest and, according to guest speaker Casey Kosch, can improve survival rates by up to 90 per cent if used within the first few minutes of a cardiac event.
Ms Kosch runs a first aid training service in Murtoa and shared her knowledge and experience with AEDs, and her passionate interest in seeing all AEDs made accessible 24/7.
“In our little town, about half the size of yours, we had two cardiac arrests within about three days just before Christmas, and public AEDs were used both times,” she said.
“Eighty per cent of people have cardiac arrests in their own home, about five per cent are in the community, the rest are in a hospital setting, so only about two to three percent of patients have access to AEDs … they’re always after hours, this sort of thing.
“I just want you to have a quick think - how much is a life worth? What’s your husband worth? What’s your wife worth? What’s the monetary value?
“I don’t know the monetary value of a human life.”
There are currently 14 AEDs registered in Warracknabeal, four of which are accessible 24/7.
“Pay $300 per box and get them put outside,” Ms Kosch said.
Ms Kosch also spoke about the GoodSAM project, which allows trained volunteers to be notified when there is a cardiac arrest incident in their area so they can provide immediate help.
“In the really small towns that we live in, we don’t always have ambulances, so (Good Sam will) alert you and if you’re able to attend, you can say: ‘yes, I can attend’, grab your nearest defib and get to that address,” Ms Kosch said.
“Often you’ve just got two ambos turned out to start with, and they’ve got heaps of other stuff to do - they just need someone on (the patient’s) chest (helping to perform CPR).”
She also highlighted the Emergency Plus app, a free national service which uses GPS to provide Triple Zero (000) callers with the precise information needed to direct emergency services to within three square-metres of their location.
“Imagine if you’re traveling between Horsham and Stawell, there’s an accident at Dadswell’s Bridge, and you’re saying to them ‘I’m at this big, giant koala with evil-looking eyes’, what are they going to say?” Ms Kosch said.
“Some of you farmers, your paddocks are 500 acres. It’s gonna take me about half an hour, 45 minutes to find the paddock.”