Brimbank’s community safety has taken a significant step forward with the installation of a life-saving defibrillator at the Fire Rescue Victoria (FRV) Sunshine station.
This initiative is part of St John Ambulance Victoria’s Defib in Your Street Program, which launched in Sunshine last month.
St John Ambulance Victoria reports that every year, approximately 30,000 Australians suffer sudden cardiac arrests outside of hospitals, with a survival rate of less than 5 per cent without immediate CPR and defibrillation. Last year, only 1.77 per cent of these patients received an early shock from a publicly accessible defibrillator before professional help arrived.
In Victoria alone, there were 7830 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests in 2022-23, with 139 people receiving a shock from a public defibrillator. This represents a 20 per cent increase from the 6519 recorded in 2018-19.
St John Ambulance Victoria chief executive Gordon Botwright said as more incidents occur annually, “tragically few are returning home”.
”But with more people performing CPR, and greater access to public defibrillators, we can significantly turn around the survival rate. Our goal is for 15 per cent survival in the next five years – a tripling of the current survival rate,” Mr Botwright said.
The Sunshine fire station was chosen for its central location, ensuring the defibrillator is accessible to the public 24-7.
FRV acting commander Myles Hennessey said the new device can be accessed by the public if crews are out of station.
“We are very pleased to be able to provide our local community with another opportunity for intervention in the chain of survival to help save lives,” he said.
