Geoff Helisma |
“Providing defibrillators at one of our popular beaches and in the Gateway Lifestyle retirement village, we believe, can save lives,” says the Rotary Club of Yamba’s director of community projects, Gayle Doe.
“Saving lives has an obvious benefit to the community and relates to the Rotary Foundation’s mission of improvement in health.”
The Rotary club installed its sixth 24-hour-available defibrillator at Turners Beach on March 5; there are now reportedly 20 of the devices in Yamba, seven of which are available to the public 24 hours a day.
“The Clarence Valley Council was contacted and gave Rotary permission to place the defibrillator on the public toilet block wall at the beach,” Ms Doe said.
“Here, it can service both Turners and Whiting beaches, which are very popular swimming and surfing beaches in the school holiday time – bystanders have the potential to save a life.”
Ms Doe said the club’s initiative, Operation Heart Start, commenced about two years ago and aimed to make “our town of Yamba ‘Heart Safe’”.
“Yamba is an ideal retirement location; it has an ageing population, with people aged over 65 years making up 36.8 per cent of the local population,” she said.
“We know that early defibrillation is the single most effective treatment for cardiac arrest and that defibrillation within three minutes of collapse can increase the chance of survival to over 70 per cent.”
The club, which has previously conducted an “education session on CPR [cardiopulmonary resuscitation] and the use of defibrillators for community members at Yamba Waters Community Centre”, is planning another for the retirement village.
She said there have been four cardiac arrests at Yamba bowling and/or golf clubs over the past 12 months, where people were successfully resuscitated by a member of staff or the public using a defibrillator.
Ms Doe said the Rotary club had purchased HeartSine automatic defibrillators.
“We’ve kept it local by using Resqmed, which is based in Maclean,” she said.
“Being local, Resqmed has offered free education, training and hands-on use of the defibrillators.
“They can also provide formal qualifications in CPR and defibrillator use, including a full first aid certificate for anyone who would like to update or gain these skills.
“And individuals who survive a cardiac arrest due to the use of these defibrillators are given the chance to ‘pay it forward’ and potentially save another life, as the company donates a second defibrillator to the survivor’s charity of choice.
“Clarence Valley Council is also placing street signage around identifying to the public where these new defibrillators are located.”