If someone nearby were to go into cardiac arrest, Kluts said, “call 111 and ask for an ambulance, and then fetch the nearest AED. Ideally, someone else would perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) in the meantime.”
He added, “When the heart stops pumping blood around the body, a defibrillator (AED) will read the heart’s rhythm and give it an electric shock to help return it back to normal.
“Anybody can use one, because they come with pre-loaded voice instructions, but it’s always worth doing a basic first aid course to boost your confidence in these situations.”
Hōhepa Shop’s AED installation occurred during HHSTJ’S ‘Shocktober’ - an annual awareness campaign in October.
Throughout this period, the ‘3 Steps for Life’ CPR and AED education programme is delivered to the public.
This programme includes free one-hour educative sessions which are designed to give people the confidence and awareness to act when someone suffers an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest.
HHStJ Community Education National Manager Jacci Tatnell explained that ‘the Shocktober campaign highlights how anyone, anywhere, can play a vital role in responding to a cardiac arrest in the community and therefore give that person the best chance of surviving.’
To date, the Shocktober community education team has successfully taught over 21,350 New Zealanders how to deliver CPR and administer an AED, well exceeding the initial 2024 goal of 15,000 people.
