Until recently, your local bank may not have been the first place you could expect to find lifesaving technology. Now, thanks to St John and ASB, you can not only apply for a home loan or withdraw your money at an ASB branch but in a cardiac emergency it's the place to go to quickly find a defibrillator.
Of the approximately 38 cardiac arrests a week in New Zealand, around 11 are resuscitated, but only six leave hospital alive. It's hoped easy access to a defibrillator will help improve those survival rates. When immediate CPR is applied and a defibrillator is used, chances of survival from a cardiac arrest are 40% higher.
St John has helped distribute the Automated External Defibrillators (AED) in 170 branches around the country in order to ensure they get a good spread across public places nationwide. Together with the first aid training offered, a cardiac arrest in a shopping centre has the potential to be much more survivable.
ASB branch manager Bill Bayley said they had the defibrillator installed about a month ago and it was good for staff to have training on how to use it. "It actually talks you through it, tells you exactly what to do, where to put the pads," Bayley said.
When Tanya Stevens went into cardiac arrest last year, her partner Chas Grant, who had had first aid training, kept her alive until help arrived."
Ms Stevens says she feels really grateful that he knew what to do, that emergency services came very quickly, and they had a defibrillator. Their daughter now knows how to use a defibrillator, training alongside bank staff and members of the public.
Medi Train's Essential First Aid Supplies stocks two easy-to-use, award winning defibrillators from the Defibtech range that could help you save a life, including the fully automatic defibrillator and the semi automatic defibrillator.
