Life comes in portable pack

Alex Hickey
If you keel over from a heart attack in downtown Napier don't panic, as help could be at hand in some unusual places, namely - a chemist, a sports hall and a pub.
City Medical, a private GP practice, has given three automated external defibrillatiors (AEDs), worth $9000 to three strategic sites in the Art Deco city: Breakers Cafe and Bar, Gahagans Pharmacy and the Pettigrew-Green Arena.
The hi-tech, user-friendly machines electrically shock the heart back into a normal rhythm, if a person collapses from a sudden cardiac arrest, and can save lives if they are applied quickly enough.
Manual defibrillators are used in emergency wards, ambulances and fire engines but the automated versions have been given to the Napier public as they provide quick easy access to potentially life-saving equipment.
The medical director at City Medical, Hugh Findlay, said early defibrillation could save up to 74 percent of victims of sudden cardiac arrest.
Conversely each minute of delay in delivering a shock reduced the victim's chances of survival by 10 percent, Dr Findlay said. The three machines would provide additional support to the existing emergency services.
AEDs could be used by almost anyone and most first-aiders would have had training in how to use them, he said. They had electronic voices and explained "step by step" what the user should do.
More importantly, the machine detected irregular heart rhythms electronically and would not deliver a shock to anyone who was not having a heart attack.
Dr Findlay had a simple message to members of the public wary of the technology: "Don't be afraid to use it."
They could make the difference between life and death.
"If you are having a heart attack it can do some good, and if you are not it will not do any damage," he said.
Turbo Group chief Rey Pantoja, whose company owns Breakers, said he was excited to be involved with such a "life-saving" venture.
The machine would be placed in the reception area between the Masonic Hotel and the bar.
He was not worried about any drunken high jinks from customers.
Staff would have access to the machines but they would be in a secure area, Mr Pantoja said.
City Medical manager Peter Bradshaw said they had donated the machines as they wanted to raise the profile of the practice on Wellesley Road.
The three sites the machines were located in were chosen for their accessibility, Mr Bradshaw said.
Any "Joe Bloggs" could use them with some basic training and they would be providing training for the staff of all three sites, he said.