St John Ambulance urge Victorian government not to fall behind other states on defibrillator rollout

The state government has been urged to follow other states and mandate defibrillators in public buildings, with St John Ambulance Victoira saying the move could save thousands of lives.

St John Ambulance Victoria trainer Tatiana Danyluk (centre) conducting a CPR demonstration to local Werribee residents. Picture: Supplied

The state government has been urged to follow South Australia and mandate defibrillators in public buildings.

St John Ambulance Victoria, which launched its Defib In Your Street program in Werribee on Friday, said the move could save thousands of lives.

“More than 7500 Victorians suffer a sudden cardiac arrest every year and survival relies on quick access to a defibrillator and training the community in its use,” chief executive Gordon Botwright said.

St John Ambulance Victoria Ambulance Transport Attendant Belinda Neal, local Werribee resident and the first to host a defibrillator as part of the ‘ Defib In Your Street program’ George Andrews, and St John Ambulance Victoria CEO Gordon Botwright. Picture: Supplied

St John has placed more than 90 Automatic External Defibrillators (AED) in Victoria across Reservoir, St Albans and Sunshine, plus trained 12,500 community members in CPR in the past three years.

The Defib In Your Street program aims to reduce time to access a defibrillator in a bid to increase survival rates of people suffering Sudden Cardiac Arrest by providing free training and greater access to more public defibrillators.

The area of Werribee located in Wyndham City Council is home to more than 28,000 people across a 12.7 sq km area, but St John Ambulance data shows it the only has three publicly-accessible defibrillators available 24-hours a day.

A young Werribee resident learning CPR at the St John Ambulance Victoria launch of its Defib In Your Street program in Werribee. Picture: Supplied

“It’s literally a case where every second counts … with every extra minute that a person is in cardiac arrest, their chances of surviving fall by 10 per cent,” Mr Botwright said.

“Since initiating Defib In Your Street in 2022, we have installed more than 90 defibrillators in Melbourne suburbs with a high incidence of sudden cardiac arrest, and we have substantially reduced the time needed to access a defibrillator.

“The state government needs to follow the lead of SA where more than 1000 defibrillators have been installed, so we can work together and improve access to these lifesaving devices for all Victorians.

Latrobe University data of the Defib In Your Street pilot program found that in Reservoir the program reduced travel time for residents to their nearest defibrillator by 2.32 minutes (68 per cent), and doubled AED coverage for cardiac arrests.

Werribee resident and retired firefighter George Andrews praised the St John program and encouraged local community members to get involved.

“Having had first-hand experience in conducting CPR on a neighbour … I know how vital timing is in improving survival rates, so I didn’t think twice about becoming the first person to host a public access defibrillator,” Mr Andrews said.

“The AED units are very easy to operate so if we can improve access to them by increasing the numbers in the suburb, we will have a far greater chance of saving precious lives,” he said.

St John plans to make 30 publicly-available defibrillators (PADs) accessible in Werribee to

ensure there is one every 400m.

Originally published as St John Ambulance urge Victorian government not to fall behind other states on defibrillator rollout