Regional Victorians are being urged to refresh their cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) skills and, sign up to be a GoodSAM responder this October.

Now in its third year, Ambulance Victoria’s (AV) Shocktober is a nationally recognised campaign aimed at improving cardiac arrest survival rates.

AV’s Gippsland Regional Director Ross Salathiel said about 19 Victorians suffer a cardiac arrest every day but only one in 10 survive, taking the lives of our loved ones far too soon.

“This is why, this month we want as many people as possible to learn basic CPR and to become one of AV’s GoodSAM Responders,” he said.

GoodSAM is a life-saving app that connects patients in cardiac arrest with a nearby volunteer who is willing to start hands-on CPR while an ambulance is on the way.

Cardiac arrest happens when a person’s heart suddenly stops beating and stops pumping blood effectively around the body; it can happen to anyone, anytime, anywhere.

“Pre-hospital care in Victoria is world class, but it all starts when a bystander steps in and starts compressions.

“While bystanders alone will never replace an ambulance service, equipping people with skills to start the chain of survival; starting chest compressions or CPR and using an AED saves lives,” Ross said.

“Anyone can save a life in three simple steps. Call, Push, Shock: Call Triple Zero (000), Push hard and fast on the middle of the chest, and Shock using an AED.”

An AED is used to deliver a shock to help restore normal heart rhythm following a cardiac arrest.

“The use of public AEDs has nearly doubled in the last ten years; anyone can use an AED, regardless of whether they have received training to do so. If someone is in cardiac arrest and an AED is available, simply open it and follow the verbal instructions,” Ross said.

“Finally, if you have an AED please register it with AV and ensure it is accessible 24/7 where people in need can use it – not locked away.

“If someone suffers a cardiac arrest and a bystander calls 000, the call-taker can direct people to that nearest AED.

This small but important step can help link AEDs in communities across Victoria with people who need them when they need them.”

AV’s FIrst Responder Shock Trial (FIRST) will examine whether equipping high-frequency GoodSAM responders with an ultraportable defibrillator (such as the CellAED) can increase survival to 30 days in out-of-hospital-cardiac arrests (OHCA) compared with the current strategy of retrieving the closest available AED.

Approximately 1,100 GoodSAM responders have been invited to participate in the FIRST which is expected to start in Victoria later this year. 

For information about the FIRST visit ambulance.vic.gov.au/first/ 

For information about the Shocktober campaign visit ambulance.vic.gov.au/call-push-shock/