AED Project
Improving Responses to Sudden Cardiac Arrest in the Whitehorse District
A Community Project of the Rotary Club of Nunawading
Thank you for agreeing to participate in this important part of our project.
Our club was inspired to start this project following a presentation by the original Yellow Wiggle, Greg Page. He famously suffered a cardiac arrest while performing on stage. A timely response of a member of the audience and the use of an Automated External Defibrillator (AED) saved his life. Subsequently he set up “The Heart of the Nation” an organisation committed to improving access to AEDs.
Important Statistics about Cardiac Arrests
1.2 million Australians have heart disease 4% Females & 5% Males *
In Australians Aged 65 – 74 12.4% Females & 19.6% Males *
1.6 % (375,000) Australians have a heart attack in their lifetime **
19 People die of cardiac arrest every day ** = 46 / year in Whitehorse
Using an AED within 3-4 minutes = 70% chance of survival or 6 times that with no AEDs *
* Australian Heart Foundation
** Australian Bureau of Statistics
Phase 1: Improving the Response to Cardiac Arrest in Whitehorse
In this phase we aim to interview a small number of local businesses and organisations to help us draft a survey in which we will target the wider Whitehorse business community.
These interviews will involve one or two members of the Rotary Club of Nunawading meeting with yourself or a nominated staff member either face to face or by phone. This interview should only take 10-15 minutes. It will involve open ended questions about your businesses readiness to respond to a cardiac emergency. We will endeavour to ensure that this occurs at the most convenient time for you. All responses will remain confidential, and you can withdraw at any time, should you decide.
On completion of this phase, two of our members with background in research will review the findings and use this to draft a survey for Phase 2 targeting the wider Whitehorse business community. Following this we will share our information with the Whitehorse Business Community to plan and prioritise strategies to improve the use of AEDs. This may involve rolling out training sessions for staff, distribution of information, enrolling AEDs on to the Ambulance Victoria website or providing a map of local AEDs.
We value the information your business may provide.
Thank you for completing the information for us
One of our members will be contacting you shortly to set up a mutually convenient time for our interview,
Dr Bob Davis
Chair of Community Committee