Shock of your life, thank heavens

In the past month there have been two women whose lives have been saved because defibrillators were available — and people at the scene had been trained in their use.

The phrase offers instructions on what bystanders should do if they witness a cardiac arrest: call (phone 000), push (start CPR) and shock (use an AED to try to restart the heart.)

The initiative is part of AV’s “Shocktober” campaign, a month-long effort to empower community members to take timely action, note the locations of defibrillators, and sign up for the GoodSAM volunteer responder program.

“Everything we do in the ambulance is often the next layer of care,” explained Campaspe senior team manager Eliot Walton

“If someone isn’t performing CPR, your chances of surviving a cardiac arrest outside of hospital or before we arrive is really low.

“Every minute someone is not performing CPR, the chances of not surviving essentially increases by 10 per cent, so it’s especially important in rural communities purely just because of the tyranny of distance.”

Mr Walton said campaigns such as Shocktober were invaluable in making a positive difference to cardiac arrest outcomes.

He explained people often don’t quite grasp just how important of a role they can play, with patients were more than twice as likely to survive a cardiac arrest if they receive CPR and an AED shock before paramedics arrive.

“It’s so important to have an understanding of where AEDs are in the community,” Mr Walton said.

“They’re not there for the professionals, the paramedics, nurses, or doctors, they’re there for everyday use.

“They’re very easy to operate, often self-explanatory when you turn them on, and that’s what they’re for, to be used to improve cardiac arrest survival rates.”

It’s a message Mr Walton can’t stress enough, with just 152 of the more than 7500 Victorians who suffered a cardiac arrest in 2024-25 receiving an AED shock before paramedics arrived.

Another thing Mr Walton and AV wants to see change is the disparity in quality of care between genders with women half as likely to receive an AED shock than men.

“It’s something we need to address,” Mr Walton said.

“People should still feel extremely empowered and encouraged to perform CPR regardless of gender.”

Shocktober’s initiatives have helped push Victoria’s cardiac arrest survival rate to the second highest in the world, and Mr Walton wants people to use it as an opportunity to think about what they can do to help drive the survival rate even higher.

“I really recommend if people are willing to do CPR they sign up for the GoodSAM app,” he said.

“You don’t have to have done a CPR course or be qualified in any shape or form, you just have to be willing to do CPR because any CPR is better than no CPR, and we really want to give every heart a chance of survival.”

“When you sign up for the app, you essentially become an active responder, and you could be notified if there’s a heart attack in your vicinity.

“You also can see available AEDs in the area, so you can go grab one, bring it to the scene and provide life-saving treatment.”

Mr Walton said the app meant there’s one less thing for people to remember in the event they witness a cardiac arrest, with all AEDs registered on the good Samaritan registry appearing on an interactive map along with the hours they’re accessible.

“If you have an AED or you know of someone who has one, you can still register it,” he said.

“Just let us know the hours it’s available and then when someone does call triple zero, they can potentially utilise it to save a life.

“We always encourage people to put AEDs in a place that’s accessible 24/7.

“We know people are worried about them getting damaged, but there’s a very low rate of vandalism and theft around AEDs because they’re pretty much useless for anything other than defibrillating a patient.”

If people take one thing out of Shocktober, Mr Walton hopes it’s how much their actions matter.

“If you're unsure at all if someone's in cardiac arrest, and they're not responding, you should start CPR,” he said.

“You will unfortunately sometimes cause injuries from CPR, but that is not the point, we want people to start CPR and perform CPR before we get there.

“Unfortunately, if someone isn’t willing to do CPR, it rapidly changes our potential to get a good outcome, so if you’re over the age of 18, and you’re willing to do CPR, sign up for the GoodSAM app.”

To find out more about Shocktober, visit www.ambulance.vic.gov.au/shocktober

To download the GoodSAM app and find your nearest AED, visit www.goodsamapp.org