Restart a Heart Day prompts advice on CPR and where to find AEDs

From left, Param Singh Bains, Pritam Singh and Happy Singh Kang get intsruction on the use of the new AED at Te Puke Sikh Temple.

Contrary to what the movies might have us believe, a cardiac arrest and a heart attack are two very different things.

In cardiac arrest the heart stops abruptly. A heart attack might or might not results in cardiac arrest.

If you witnessed a cardiac arrest - would you know what to do?

With tomorrow being International Restart a Heart Day, Te Puke St John chairwoman Lyn Govenlock says it is important to know two things - to start Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) straight away and, if possible, initiate a ''shock'' with an Automated External Defibrillator (AED).

There is a St John app available that offers instruction on how to perform CPR and also an AED locator app - both available as free downloads.

Lyn says CPR should be started straight away and should take priority over finding an AED, but if an AED is to hand, its immediate use can improve the chances of survival by 40 per cent.

She says that statistic highlights the importance of knowing where the nearest AED is.

The locator app shows there are 32 AEDs in the greater Te Puke area and there are more that aren't recorded on the app.

Lyn says they are in a variety of places such as packhouses, schools, medical centres and dentists, marae and supermarkets.

Thanks to a donation from a local kiwifruit grower, there is now one at the Sikh temple on No 3 Rd.

''It's better to know where they are than to spend 10 minutes finding where the closest is as that 10 minutes could be vital,'' she says.

She says the ''shock boxes'' are easy to use with just tow pads and a ''go'' button.

A person in cardiac arrest will collapse and stop breathing normally.

Cardiac arrest can be a result of a heart attack, which is actually a heart condition. Cardiac arrest can also result from drowning, drug overdose, massive trauma such as a car crash or a number of different medical conditions.

Visit https://restartaheart.net/ for more information.