The installation of four new semi-automatic defibrillators, across St Agnes Parish services, means the community now have immediate support in assisting with recovery from cardiac arrest.
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The life saving equipment was purchased from Jamie Martin’s Hastings First Aid and has initially been installed at MacKillop College, St Josephs Primary School, St Peter’s Primary School and St Agnes Parish Church.
The machines bear a heart shaped symbol with a lightning bolt passing through it, so that they can be easily recognised in an emergency. Often the automated external defibrillator, or AED, is contained in a clear plastic casing and has been designed to be used on site to administer immediate assistance to those suffering a cardiac arrest.
At a training session for staff at St Josephs Primary School, local paramedic Jamie Martin stated the importance of providing support and using the machines within the first seven minutes after cardiac arrest.
When a heart suffers cardiac arrest, it stops beating normally and begins to fibrillate. The concept behind a defibrillation machine is to stop the irregularity, so that the brain can send an electronic ‘reboot’ to the heart and start it beating normally again. Immediate assistance can save lives and help in sustaining the patient until paramedics arrive.
“Often the ambulance is on its way or trying to get to a patient within that crucial time. If the defib can be used within the first minute, the patient has a seventy percent chance of recovery. After that the chances of survival drop by ten percent per minute,” Jamie said.