New gear to shock Scarsdale

AN automated external defibrillator, or AED, is now available for public access at the Scarsdale Fire Station.

A $2000 donation from the Country Womens Association’s Scarsdale branch has funded the lifesaving tech, and assistant secretary Anne Wilson said it’s a much-needed community asset.

“There is a defibrillator in the Scarsdale community but it’s in the local kindergarten and locked so it isn’t accessible for the public very easily,” she said.

“With this one, we can just go and grab it whenever we need to now, so it’ll certainly be helpful.”

In the event of cardiac arrest, an AED can be used by anyone, whether they have first aid training or not.

The local CWA regularly offers financial support to community initiatives, generating funds by selling craft items and baked goods at the Smythesdale Country Market.

Ms Wilson said the defibrillator was “top of the list,” following an online consultation during lockdown with Ambulance Victoria, who provided the equipment.

The defibrillator is located at the depot’s exterior, with the battery set to be replaced every five years, but Ms Wilson said it wouldn’t hurt for the town to have a third.

“There’s definitely been a demand for a more publicly accessible defibrillator here in our community,” she said.

“Scarsdale and Smythesdale are pretty connected, so as we’ve bought this, the Smythesdale Progress Association have decided they’d like to get one now for the local camping ground.”

Members of the Scarsdale CWA will lobby the municipality to install directional signage to inform passers-by of the AED, which was installed earlier this month.

The CWA branch also received a certificate of appreciation from Ambulance Victoria’s Grampians operations community engagement liaison coordinator Mel Buckingham, for their commitment to the health of their neighbours.