Throughout the month of October, the annual Ambulance Victoria campaign educates local communities on how to perform CPR and use an automated external defibrillator.
Seymour Advanced Life Support paramedic Paige Wallis said the campaign’s teachings were summarised with the phrase ‘Call, Push, Shock’.
“We want to call 000 if someone is in cardiac arrest. Then, we want to push, so performing CPR by pushing really hard and fast on the middle of the chest. And shock is using an AED to restart the heart,” Ms Wallis said.
Aside from a familiarity with ‘Call, Push, Shock’, another key takeaway from Shocktober is that all people can make a difference, whether a trained paramedic or not.
“The biggest thing is, anyone can help save a life. You don’t need to be a trained medical professional,” Ms Wallis said.
“We know that over 70 per cent of cardiac arrests actually happen at home, and every minute that CPR is not started, it reduces a patient’s survival rate by 10 per cent.
“So, by being reactive and quick, you’re giving your loved ones the best possible outcome before we can get there and go about those more advanced skills.”
Because every minute matters in cardiac arrests, Ms Wallis said Shocktober campaigning was particularly important in regional areas.
“Especially in rural towns like Seymour, we cover a broad area and it could take us 40 minutes to get to a job, so the more people that know how to perform CPR (the better),” she said.
She added that it was also vital to “give every heart a chance”.
“Women are less likely to receive CPR or an AED, and I think that comes back to people being concerned about exposing a woman’s chest,” Ms Wallis said.
“We really want people to give every heart a chance and not worry about that barrier.”
For more information about Shocktober, visit ambulance.vic.gov.au/shocktober
Victorians can also download Ambulance Victoria’s GoodSAM app, which notifies registered responders of nearby cardiac arrests and helps them to locate their nearest AED.
