The importance of learning CPR techniques and access to an AED

The importance of learning CPR techniques and access to an AED

Thirty-six thousand people collapsed last year from a sudden cardiac arrest but of those only 10 per cent were able to be revived. A major factor in surviving is the life-saving benefits of learning CPR techniques and access to an AED.

As Nick Hose reports there is a new push to get more people trained in CPR.

Editor's note: When this story originally went to air the introduction referred to heart attacks when it should have said cardiac arrest. This has been corrected.

NICK HOSE, REPORTER: This is the first time Jesse Amato has been to soccer practice since he nearly died here in January.

JESS AMATO: I was playing futsal like I usually do on every Wednesday night and about five minutes to go, for the match, I dropped, knees buckled, and I collapsed on to the floor.

What I suffered was a sudden cardiac arrest.

NICK HOSE: Jesse was rushed to Royal Melbourne Hospital in a critical condition and placed in an induced coma.

JESS AMATO: I have always stayed quite fit and active and to hear that I had a heart episode being a cardiac arrest was just beyond belief.

NICK HOSE: Jesse's doctor says it was the quick actions from off duty police officer Todd Fowler that made the difference between life and death.

TODD FOWLER: I realised he was unconscious because he just wasn't responding at all. After about 30 seconds or so, it was pretty clear that he wasn't going to wake up.

JESS AMATO: If it wasn't for Todd recognising that I wasn't showing any signs of life and I needed CPR I wouldn't be here right now.

NICK HOSE: Every year in Australia about 25,000 people have a cardiac arrest but it is estimated that as few as 10 per cent survive.

Experts say there are two things that make a big difference when you go into cardiac arrest - CPR and a defibrillator otherwise known as an AED.

GREG PAGE, FORMER YELLOW WIGGLE: When I meet somebody who survived a sudden cardiac arrest the underlying theme of the conversation is really gratefulness and that, that acknowledgment that we are the minority.

MURRAY COOK, RED WIGGLE: Guys, I think we are going to end it there. Greg is not feeling real well

NICK HOSE: The original yellow Wiggle, Greg Page, is part of that lucky 10 per cent. He went into cardiac arrest while performing at a bushfire relief concert in January last year.

Now he's on a mission to help more people survive.

GREG PAGE: I've come to Dubbo to really shine a light on a guy here by the name of George Chapman. He has almost single-handedly but with the help of the community gone about installing 150 AEDs in the town of Dubbo and that's just incredible.

GEORGE CHAPMAN: It is a lifesaving machine. Don't hesitate to use it. All we have to do is put it in the cabinet and you are ready to go.

I would like to see defibrillators in it every heavy traffic area in every town, no more than two minutes apart.

NICK HOSE: Thankfully for Greg when he went into sudden cardiac arrest there was with an AED and someone who knew CPR.

GREG PAGE: The thing that really saved my life was somebody identifying that I wasn't breathing. Thankfully somebody recognised that, they called 000 straight away and started CPR immediately.

The venue that I was at Castle Hill RSL had an AED. Thankfully somebody retrieved that, they placed the pads on my chest, shocked me a couple of times and brought me back just in time for the ambulance crew to turn up and do what they needed to do

The AED played a critical role in my survival.

BRIAN HASKINS: If you think that the defibrillation has to happen within the first five minutes, that only gives you 2.5 minutes to go get the AED and 2.5 minutes to get back.

If there is no response you need to check are they breathing.

NICK HOSE: Brian Haskins is a lecturer of paramedicine at Monash University. His research shows when the public is confident administering CPR, lives can be saved but access to defibrillators can be an issue.

BRIAN HASKINS: If someone gets defibrillated before the paramedics arrive in Victoria they have a 57 per cent chance of survival. That drops to 29 per cent if we have to wait for the paramedics to arrive.

NICK HOSE: In October last year NSW Labor MP Chris Hayes collapsed in Parliament. Dr Mike Freelander was one of the first people to rush to his aid.

DR MICHAEL FREELANDER: So I was in the chair so I was able to quickly jump up and run to his aid. The staff were able to get the defibrillator, which was in the House of Reps, bring it straight here. So things did work pretty well and luckily Chris is okay but we do need, I think, in the building maps of where the AEDs are.

They should be in every place where people are working so that we have access to them.

GREG PAGE: Going through a process like I went through where you realise that you nearly weren't going to be around anymore, it's daunting.

You realise just how fragile life is.