AED Project

Make Drouin and Warragul Heart-Safe

 
The Rotary Club of Drouin and Ambulance Victoria have joined forces to make the Drouin and Warragul communities 'Heart-safe'.
 
“Ultimately, the project will involve identifying all the Automatic External Defibrillators (AEDs) in the community, ensuring the units are registered with Ambulance Victoria (AV), making the community aware of their locations and encouraging community use of an AED in the event of a cardiac arrest,” said Drouin Rotary Club President Ian Bennett.
 
According to Ambulance Victoria prompt access to CPR and an AED can make the difference between life and death for a person suffering cardiac arrest. 
 
AV Acting CEO Tony Walker said increasing the local knowledge of AED locations would improve access to the equipment in a life threatening emergency.
 
“Ambulance Victoria encourages any community group with an AED to ensure it is registered on the Ambulance Victoria database, www.registermyaed.com.au.”
 
“Once the unit is registered, its location can be mapped, making access in an emergency much quicker,” said Mr Walker
 
Ian Bennett said the Drouin Rotary Club was currently investigating ways of making the Club’s AED available for public access 24/7, in keeping with the concept of a ‘Heart-Safe community’.
 
The Heart-Safe initiative intended to help more people survive after sudden out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. When someone’s heart suddenly stops, they will generally not survive unless a number of interventions take place immediately, including CPR and defibrillation.
 
Mr Bennett and Mr Walker said the program being jointly undertaken by Ambulance Victoria and the Drouin Rotary Club would help the development of a state-wide initiative.