By Renee Wood
A public defibrillator has been installed at the Dixons Creek Community hall for easy access for anyone to use in times of emergency.
The Zoll 3 fully automatic AED is now placed on the outside wall near the playground.
Defibrillators are used when someone is in cardiac arrest and it sends an electric pulse or shock to the heart to restore a normal heartbeat.
Dixons Creek Community Group Inc Manager Allen Koochew said this life saving device was chosen for its usability.
“The fact that it’s a fully automatic defib that self explains how to operate it which means you do not need to have a St John’s or Red Cross qualification to be able to use, it teaches you everything step by step as you go through it,” Mr Allen Koochew said.
The new device was possible following a successful grant application with the Valley Community Recovery Committee.
The community was invited to a presentation at the Dixons Creek Community Hall on Sunday 20 November to learn how to use it.
“If there’s somebody at the playground or the oval reserve, we have a lot of passing traffic there because of the public toilets and the a lot of traffic stop and stay and there’s potential that there may be a need for one in that area when it’s available to the public,” he said.
It’s expected to be of benefit anyone passing by but also be of use to anyone who close by who goes into cardiac arrest in the surrounding area, with up to 300 households in Dixons Creek and 700 in Steels Creek.
It will be listed with the GoodSAM Responder app which is a free global smartphone app that alerts users to someone nearby in cardiac arrest and asks them to assist.
Triple Zero (000) communications centre are immediately notified through the app and an ambulance will be dispatched.
Mr Koochew is a Dixons Creek CFA member and encourages locals to also sign up to the Emergency Plus app that uses your phone’s GPS to pinpoint your location to provide this to Triple Zero.
“The amount of time we hear people giving wrong addresses and instead of taking 5 to 7 minutes to arrive at a scene, it takes half an hour 45 minutes while people are chasing around trying to find out where the call is coming from.”
The Dixons Creek CFA also has defibrillators which the community can ring the CFA directly for in times of need.
The defibrillator is now installed at the hall at 1659 Melba Highway, Dixons Creek.
