In short:
Ambulance Victoria’s Shocktober campaign is encouraging Victorians to learn CPR and how to use an AED. Around 21 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests occur across Victoria each day.
Campaign Calls On Community To Be Ready
Ambulance Victoria is urging residents to learn how to respond to a cardiac arrest as its annual Shocktober campaign gets underway.
Around 21 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests occur across Victoria each day, making the actions of people nearby potentially critical in the minutes before paramedics arrive.
Shocktober focuses on three steps: Call, Push, Shock.
If someone is in cardiac arrest, people should call Triple Zero (000), begin CPR and use an Automated External Defibrillator (AED) if one is available.
Ambulance Victoria says a person’s chance of survival decreases by about 10 per cent for every minute CPR is delayed.
When CPR and an AED are used before paramedics arrive, the chance of survival can more than double.
More than 200 community activities will be held across Victoria during October to give people practical experience and greater confidence in performing CPR and using an AED.
Plenty Of Skills The General Public Can Learn
AEDs are designed so members of the public can use them, with the devices providing instructions to guide users through the process.
There are about 10,000 registered AEDs across Victoria, while bystanders performed CPR in 80 per cent of witnessed cardiac arrests last year.
Ambulance Victoria is also encouraging more people to register as GoodSAM responders.
About 18,600 people are currently registered with the free app, which can alert nearby responders when a cardiac arrest occurs and provide the location of the nearest registered AED.
Victoria has Australia’s highest cardiac arrest survival rate and the second-highest reported internationally, according to Ambulance Victoria.
Shocktober aims to build on those results by increasing the number of people who know what to do when the first few minutes matter most.
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