A new initiative aims to see a defibrillator installed in every Canberra suburb.
That’s approximately 120 extra automated external defibrillators (AEDs) in the ACT for community members to access 24/7 to use on someone who has gone into cardiac arrest.
StreetBeat, launched by SERVICE ONE Mutual on Wednesday 16 October, will accept donations at streetbeat.life starting Monday 21 October when the website goes live.
The SERVICE ONE Mutual initiative is sponsored by Bendigo Community Bank Canberra and Regions, in partnership with St John Ambulance.
SERVICE ONE Mutual chief executive officer Ivan Slavich AM said the organisation aims to install an AED in Canberra’s 120 suburbs to give back to the community and potentially save lives.
“We believe every street in Australia should have an AED, as without one, the chance of survival from cardiac arrest drops dramatically after five minutes,” Mr Slavich said.
“We’re going to start with one in every suburb and build from there.”
Under the initiative, the public is invited to raise $2,500 to install an AED in their suburb.
SERVICE ONE Mutual will then cover the cost and installation of a weatherproof cabinet, sourced through St John Ambulance, to house the AEDs.
“StreetBeat is a great example of how we can make a positive difference using local money for local people,” Mr Slavich said.
“To help fundraising efforts, we’ve created an easy-to-use online platform where community members can create accounts, nominate the suburb they wish to raise funds for, share their sponsorship pages with family and friends and track their fundraising progress.
“To kickstart the campaign, we’re challenging fundraisers to complete at least 10 minutes of physical activity each day throughout November and record their efforts on the website.
“In the first week of the campaign, any contributions of up to $100 will be dollar matched by Bendigo Community Bank Canberra and Regions up to the value of $10,000 helping them quickly reach their $2,500 target.”
Heart of Canberra principal and cardiologist Dr Kashif Kalam attended the launch.
“These are really life saving devices, they are very important,” he said.
Dr Kalam said a death following cardiac arrest could be avoided with the appropriate help.
“If you have this and they can be shocked, they can go back to normal,” he said.
“They will literally get up there and then.
“It should be available to everyone.”
St John Ambulance volunteer Valmai (Val) Dempsey said at the launch that getting an AED on a casualty within the first five minutes raises the person’s chance of survival from 10 to 50-70 per cent.
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