Community
17 May, 2024
Life saving skills
A JOINT initiative between the Country Fire Authority and Ambulance Victoria has helped to teach Chocolyn residents how to make use of the brigade’s new life-saving addition.
The community joined together last Friday for a CPR information session hosted by the Chocolyn CFA Brigade and Ambulance Victoria representatives.
Around 35 members of the community were in attendance to learn more about the life-saving tactics employed by first responders in the event of cardiac arrest, including CPR and use of a defibrillator.
Chocolyn CFA brigade secretary Leigh Harry, who is also an ambulance community officer (ACO), said the information session was held to compliment a new automated external defibrillator (AED) which has been installed at the brigade.
“A few months ago, we decided to purchase, with brigade funds, an AED which could be used by the public in an emergency situation,” he said.
“The CFA provides brigades with one but that is locked in a truck and only accessible by our members so we decided to give something back to our community who supports us generously with donations.
“We thought we would repay that by purchasing the defib installed outside for the use of public in times of need.”
Mr Harry said the Chocolyn brigade was proud to supply the AED despite hoping it’s never used, but made the decision to partner with Ambulance Victoria to raise awareness for what to do if cardiac arrest occurs.
“We had two paramedics and ACO demonstrate how to perform CPR and use a defibrillator, and about 35 people attend, which was tremendous,” he said.
“They had the opportunity to learn and have a go on mannequins, and Ambulance Victoria brought practice defibs to get to see how it works.
“One of the paramedics recounted a local cardiac arrest story in which CPR was given by a bystander, and with back up when paramedics arrived they were able to save the gentleman’s life.
“To describe a real-life encounter and show what the public can do was powerful.”
Mr Harry said developing awareness was vital in ensuring the community felt empowered to act during cardiac arrest situations.
“You would think it would be daunting if you were in that situation so even a small amount of familiarly can reduce that stress if the time comes,” he said.
“The message that came out of the night is if you’re near a cardiac arrest you can assist with CPR while paramedics are coming to improve survival chances by 70 per cent.
“Having ability to give CPR quickly or have access to AED can dramatically improve chances of survival.”
Among those in attendance on the night was Ambulance Victoria paramedic community support coordinator Levi Karschimkus.
He praised the Chocolyn CFA brigade for its willingness to invest in the safety of the community it works so diligently to protect, acknowledging the chances of survival fall by 10 per cent every minute a patient doesn’t get CPR or defibrillation.
“The nearest ambulance presence is in Camperdown, so already around 10 minutes away,” Mr Karschimkus said.
“Having an AED really makes a difference which is why we went over how to use it, familiarisation with the AED and refreshing our understanding of CPR and the key messages on how to save a life in the event of cardiac arrest.
“The technology has come a long way so a defibrillator is easy to use and can automatically talk you through the process, the machine talks to you, gives rate of compression.
“It’s like having someone there instructing you about CPR, even if the defibrillator doesn’t need to use shocks.”
Mr Karschimkus said points at the information session were raised about how the performance of CPR has changed, and also provided information on the GOODSam app which connects community responders to patients while paramedics are on the way.
To learn more about how you could respond in an emergency situation visit https://www.ambulance.vic.gov.au/goodsam.
