Jesse Amato knows better than anyone the impact that defibrillator can have, after having a sudden cardiac arrest when he was just 24.
After sharing his story, he was contacted by former Yellow Wiggle Greg Page, who had set up the charity, Heart of a Nation to help raise survival rates from cardiac arrest.
Last week, Amato was on hand in the Old Shire Hall in Keilor to check out the new defibrillator that has been installed in his local community in partnership with Brimbank council.
“It is really good, a long time coming,” he said.
“You hope that you never have to use one, but for residents to know it is there they can sleep a lot better.
“A lot of the time there isn’t one close bye, or they don’t know one is there.”
Amato said that survival of someone who has a cardiac arrest is a lot better if they are treated with a defibrillator within two to three minutes.
He said the defibrillator is the first in Victoria through the Heart of a Nation program. He said they would look to install more and that community members could also fund them in their community.
“If 60 houses put in, that’s less than the cost of two cups of coffee,” he said.
