Register your defibrillator and help save a life

VICTORIANS who own a potentially life-saving defibrillator have been urged to register them.

Last week, Ambulance Victoria revealed the whereabouts of as many as 15,000 automated external defibrillators (AEDs) across the state was unknown.

The chance of survival increases by 62 per cent if a person in cardiac arrest is defibrillated by a bystander before an ambulance arrives.

Several AEDs are based in clubs across the Geelong region and at least one has helped save a life – in 2014, the AED at The Sands Resort was used by a group of locals to keep Jan Juc resident Sean Purcell alive at Whites Beach in Torquay until paramedics reached the scene.

Information about the location of registered AEDs is made available through an online registry, helping build community awareness and understanding on where local AEDs can be found.

The data will also be passed on to first responders through new smartphone technology being introduced by Ambulance Victoria.

Ambulance Victoria estimates that on average, more than 2,500 AEDs are bought in Victoria each year but not registered, often meaning their location is not known to bystanders responding to a person in cardiac arrest.

Ambulance Victoria chief executive officer Associate Professor Tony Walker urged AED owners, including schools, medical practices, businesses, community organisations and sporting clubs, to take a moment to register their devices online.

“In locations like corporate offices, gyms and bowls clubs across the state, for every life-saving defibrillator in the community we know about, there are four we don’t.

“By registering your defibrillator, you could save the life of someone in your local community.”

The call-out aims to especially identify AEDs in rural centres, particularly Geelong, Ballarat, Bendigo and Shepparton, where registration is lower than in Melbourne.

“Imagine what the map of Victoria might look like if every defibrillator in the area was registered and could be connected with someone in a life-threatening situation,” Associate Professor Walker said.

The callout comes just weeks after the latest Victorian Ambulance Cardiac Arrest Registry Annual Report showed more than 6,000 Victorians a year suffer a cardiac arrest away from hospital, with an increasing number of cases in rural Victoria over the past ten years.

AED owners can register their devices with Ambulance Victoria at ambulance.vic.gov.au/register.