It's true, sudden cardiac arrest continues to be one of the leading causes of death in Australia, with more than 30,000 cases occurring across the nation each year. Sadly, the death rate still stands at over 90% - an incredibly high figure. 

The figures in Victoria alone speak for themselves. In the period between July 2019 and 30 June 2020, there were 6,761 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests attended - the most cases ever recorded. This was a 3.7% increase on the previous year. Of these cases the majority (76%) happened in private residences, which meant cardiac arrests were far more likely to be witnessed by a bystander than ever before.

With this in mind, the key to decreasing the out-of-hospital cardiac arrest death rate remains, as it always has, improving bystander assistance. This means more people providing immediate CPR and defibrillation to a patient suffering a cardiac arrest. These are both crucial steps in the chain of survival and will significantly increase the survival rates.  

Importantly, the only treatment for a heart in cardiac arrest (in ‘fibrillation’) is for it to be de-fibrillated, this gives the heart a chance to start beating correctly again. Performing immediate CPR does help to circulate blood so it can provide oxygen to the body, brain, and other organs to stay alive, but CPR alone will not be enough. A defibrillator must be applied to the patient.

You could wait for an ambulance to arrive to apply a defibrillator, however the average ambulance arrival time in Victoria is currently over 12 minutes for a Code 1 emergency. Our incredible paramedics do their very best, but not every location has an ambulance waiting around the corner. Without a defibrillator arriving in the first 10 minutes, even if you keep doing CPR, the chance of survival on CPR alone is minimal.

An important highlight from the 2019/20 Victorian Ambulance Cardiac Arrest Registry Report is the fact that survival was significantly higher (56%) when shocked first by a public AED, compared to when shocked by paramedics (30%). Every minute counts and this finding shows how powerful early defibrillation can be for the patient.

At St John, we’ve made it our ambitious endeavour for 50% of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest patients to receive defibrillation by 2023. We can only achieve this if more defibrillators are available in the community. Every workplace, every sporting club and every public place should have a defibrillator nearby, and it should be registered so that Triple Zero operators can locate it in an emergency and direct a nearby GoodSAM Responder to bring it to the patient.

This is why we have launched something very special – a brand new range of defibrillators that are the best you can find. We rely on our defibrillators at events, for patients in ambulances and in emergencies, so we had a tough checklist of our own.

These are just a few of the features our new range of defibrillators has on offer, most of these are not seen on any other models in the market. We stand by our defibrillators being simple, effective and ready to help you save lives. Find out more about our new St John defibrillators here.

When it comes to out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, every minute counts. There is no doubt Victoria’s cardiac arrest response times are improving year on year, however, we must continue to increase the number of bystanders willing and able to respond. To do this we need your help.

Here are 3 ways you can help

1. Learn CPR – This will provide with the confidence and skill to act in an emergency.
2. Get a defibrillator – The more devices there are in the community, the greater chance one will be easily accessible in an emergency, no matter where you are.
3. Register the defibrillator – By registering the defibrillator with Ambulance Victoria, it means in the event of a cardiac arrest, a GoodSAM responder will be notified of its whereabouts and they will be directed by Triple Zero operators to bring this to the patient.

With more defibrillators in the community and more people adequately trained in first aid we can, together, return more people home to their loved ones.