Staff from St John, ASB Bank and Whangārei Primary School with children from the school, which has been presented with a defibrillator to help people survive a cardiac arrest.
The chances of surviving a cardiac arrest in Whangārei have increased with another life-saving defibrillator being installed in the city.
The medical equipment is even more precious to for staff, students and the surrounding community of Whangārei Primary School, which had a new automated external defibrillator (AED) installed on Monday.
The life-saving device is one of 28 AEDs gifted by ASB and Philips, to support efforts by St John to improve cardiac arrest survival rates in New Zealand.
"This is a valuable gift to our school," Whangārei Primary deputy principal, Ange Vette said.
"We are one of the largest primary schools in Northland and we have a number of staff and students who have heart conditions or are at risk. We are centrally located in Whangārei for community access.
''We are putting a lot of effort into getting our teachers and tamariki trained in CPR, and knowing we have an AED available to us means we are prepared for when it's ever needed," Vette said.
St John's Out of Hospital Cardiac Arrest Report, released last Friday, revealed that five people a day (almost 2000 a year) are treated by ambulance officers for a cardiac arrest that happens in the community. It can happen to people of any age at any time, but the chance of survival can be greatly improved with bystander CPR and use of an AED.
People in low income and rural areas are not only twice as likely to suffer a cardiac arrest but have considerably fewer public AEDs available and have a disproportionately higher incidence of out of hospital cardiac arrest associated with risk factors such as deprivation.
St John is going to great lengths to install AEDs in public locations like businesses, sports grounds, schools and marae, as well as delivering the 3 Steps for Life programme, to teach people how to perform CPR and use an AED.
"Studies by St John have revealed that every minute that goes by without CPR or defibrillation reduces the chance of survival by 10-15 per cent, with only 13 per cent surviving a cardiac arrest. We know that this survival rate can be doubled by people taking three easy steps; calling 111 for an ambulance, starting CPR immediately and using the nearest AED," St John Mid-North territory manager, Rob Howes said.
"Having an AED accessible in a community centre, where crowds of people frequent, means lives can be saved."
St John's clinical research shows more AEDs are needed in remote and socio-economically deprived communities.
The locations of all the AEDs situated around the country are registered at www.aedlocations.co.nz, and can be found via an online map.
Anyone over 18 who knows how to perform CPR can register and download the GoodSAM Responder app from https://www.goodsamapp.org/ so they can be alerted that a person nearby is in cardiac arrest and needs help, enabling them to provide CPR and use an AED before emergency services arrive, possibly saving a life.
For more information on St John's free 3 Steps for Life course to teach CPR and how to use an AED, visit https://www.stjohn.org.nz/What-we-do/Community-programmes/3-steps-for-life/
Here's a list of AEDs in Whangārei:
Bush Road Medical Centre; Whangārei District Council; Kensington Fitness Centre; Maunu Road Dental Surgery; GAS Parua Bay; Red Cross; St John/Northland Rescue Helicopters; Whangārei Aquatic Centre; Whangārei Heads SLSC; White Cross A&M;
Parua Bay Service Station.
Whangarei Police Station; Onerahi Fire Station; Te Manawa – The Hub; Mainfreight;
Rata Health; ACC; Primecare Medical Centre; Toll Stadium; Northland Radiology;
Whangārei Airport – Air New Zealand Counter; DairyNZ - Unit E; Kamo McDonald's; Opus International Consultants; Northpower – Contracting Barn Area; The Northland Club; Lumino The Dentist – Smile By Design – First Floor.
Pines Gold Club; Northland Regional Council – Front Desk; Kamo Dental Ltd; ASB Whangārei; ASB Kamo; ASB Walton Street – Ground Floor; Hancock Forest Management (NZ) Ltd; The Clinic; Whangārei Hospital – ED; Northhaven Hospice; Hansen Products;
West End Medical Centre; Smilecare Dental Studio; Rebel Sport Whangarei – Okara Shopping Centre; Regent New World.
NorthAble Disability Services; EchoNorth Diagnostic Ultrasound; Whangārei Heads Volunteer Fire Brigade; Sherwood Park Gold Club; Craigs Investment Partners – Laurie Hall Park; Maori Land Court – 3rd Floor – Manaia House; Hora Hora Primary School;
McDonald's; Tohora House – Northland DHB; The Warehouse; Balance Agri-Nutrients – Reception; Strength and Soul; Te Matau a Pohe Bridge.
Whangārei District Council – Wastewater Treatment Plant; Maunu School; Busck Prestressed Concrete; Mitre 10 MEGA; Ministry of Education; Barfoot & Thompson; Emerge Aotearoa; Kamo Football Club; Kamo Fire Station; Te Hau Awhiowhio o Otangarei Trust Medical Centre; New World Onerahi; Northland Orthopaedic Centre; all Z Energy branches.