LAST month, Andrea Bolton was \u201cshocked\u201d to discover a booming Shire town lacked an easily accessible, lifesaving community resource.<\/p>\n
\u201cBannockburn did not have a 24-seven, publicly accessible AED. St John Ambulance\u2019s Eichelle Carey and I set about changing that,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
At the time, St John Ambulance team members could purchase defibrillators for $1500. Ms Carey and Ms Bolton set up a GoFundMe campaign aiming to raise that figure. They made a call to action on community social media pages.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt happened so quickly. After 12 hours, we were $345 short of the goal. We put another post up, and within 21 minutes we had met the goal.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are grateful to community member, Natalie Andrews, who agreed to sponsor that defibrillator into the future. Every two years, unused pads need to be replaced as their adhesive perishes. They\u2019re roughly worth $112,\u201d Ms Bolton said.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe will also fund a battery replacement every four years, worth $263.\u201d<\/p>\n
The defibrillator has been installed at the Bannockburn Police Station. It is in an alarmed case, publicly accessible, day and night, and is registered with Ambulance Victoria.<\/p>\n
Anyone in the area who contacts 000 for an ambulance will be notified by the call-taker of the AED\u2019s location, if necessary.<\/p>\n
\u201cI spoke extensively with Ambulance Victoria about finding the right location to house this AED,\u201d Ms Bolton said.<\/p>\n
\u201cBannockburn Police Station was the most central location, and with insurance being cost-prohibitive, it was also the safest place to house it.<\/p>\n
\u201cSergeant Craig Grant was very supportive and gained permission from Victoria Police to have it attached to the brick wall. Craig\u2019s gone above and beyond, and has done an amazing job to get it up as quickly as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n
COVID-19 restrictions permitting, it is expected that community training sessions will take place soon, in collaboration with Ambulance Victoria.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe thank the Bannockburn community for their generous donations. This is their defibrillator,\u201d Ms Bolton said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
LAST month, Andrea Bolton was \u201cshocked\u201d to discover a booming Shire town lacked an easily accessible, lifesaving community resource. \u201cBannockburn did not have a 24-seven, publicly accessible AED. St John Ambulance\u2019s Eichelle Carey and I set about changing that,\u201d she said. At the time, St John Ambulance team members could purchase defibrillators for $1500. Ms […]<\/p>\n