Lifesaver: AED gifted to Rotorua's Tarewa Pounamu Marae

(From left) Kama Aldworth (ASB), Marie Scott (St John Rotorua), Hariata Kohonui (marae committee member) and Yvonne Healey (St John Rotorua). Photo / Supplied

Christmas has come early for the community surrounding Tarewa Pounamu Marae in Rotorua, with a new automated external defibrillator (AED) gifted by ASB and St John.

The life-saving device is one of 28 AEDs gifted by ASB and Philips, to support efforts by St John to improve cardiac arrest survival rates in New Zealand.

A spokeswoman for the marae says the chances of surviving a cardiac arrest in the community has now improved.

"As an iwi social services provider, we have a consistent flow of visitors," says Mary Corbett, Te Roopu a Iwi o Te Arawa Charitable Trust.

"On any given day we see at least a hundred people of all ages on site for services like the Rangitahi Court, Ministry of Justice and Oranga Tamariki.

"To have a defibrillator available is helpful and enables us to be prepared.

"It's not only for those who use our facilities but for everyone in the community."

Death from cardiac arrest is our silent toll.

Findings from St John's Out of Hospital Cardiac Arrest Report, released in March 2020, reveal that five people a day (almost 2000 a year) are treated by ambulance officers for a cardiac arrest that happens in the community.

It can happen to people of any age at any time, but the chance of survival can be greatly improved with bystander knowledge of CPR and use of an AED.

St John reports people in low income and rural areas are not only twice as likely to suffer a cardiac arrest but have considerably fewer public AEDs available, and compared to Europeans, Pacific Island and Māori communities have a disproportionally higher incidence of out of hospital cardiac arrest associated with risk factors such as deprivation.

St John is going to great lengths in communities around New Zealand to install AEDs in public locations like marae, schools, businesses and sports grounds, as well as delivering the "3 Steps for Life" programme, to teach people how to perform CPR and use an AED.

"Studies by St John have revealed that every minute that goes by without CPR or defibrillation reduces the chance of survival by 10-15 percent, with only about 13 per cent surviving a cardiac arrest," says Leisa Tocknell, St John Lakes territory manager.

"We know that this survival rate can be doubled by people taking three easy steps - calling 111 for an ambulance, starting CPR immediately and using the nearest AED.

"Having an AED accessible at a rural community marae where many people gather, means lives can be saved."

ASB head of community and sponsorship Mark Graham says ASB has been supporting St John to get AEDs into more communities, to help increase the chances of survival during a cardiac arrest.

"We have AEDs in all of our branches and have had to use them a number of times, so we know how critical they can be in an emergency when every minute counts.

"Having this AED will hopefully make a big difference when it's needed most."