Accessible community defibrillators can help save lives during a cardiac arrest event. Photo / Andrew Warner
Accessible community defibrillators can help save lives during a cardiac arrest event. Photo / Andrew Warner
Lake Rotomā is a summer hotspot by a busy highway, and the local community could be getting a fully funded life-saving medical device.
The chairman of the community board set to decide on the funding of a defibrillator has said the devices can help save the lives of those suffering a heart attack.
Aside from neighbouring Rotoehu, Rotomā is the last of the lake communities to get a funded defibrillator, having previously been lacking any cell coverage.
The devices require service to access them. Emergency services are called via 111, and the caller is given the code designated for the cabinet number.
Rotorua Lakes Community Board members spoke about the possibility at a meeting this month.
Speaking with Local Democracy Reporting this week, chairman Phill Thomass said members agreed at a subsequent workshop it would be able to fund the device and would vote to approve it at the upcoming meeting on March 9.
Potential locations where the device could be installed would need to be figured out, but he said typically, they went in well-used areas such as sports grounds or boat ramps.
It had purchased five other devices and funded two cabinets for defibrillators it did not pay for. They cost between $4000 and $5000 to purchase and install with a cabinet.
Rotorua Lakes Community Board chairman Phill Thomass with one of the board-funded defibrillators.
Those installed were at Lake Rotorua at Hamurana and at Lake Ōkāreka.
The latter was installed in about 2017, and Thomass said within the first month it had been used twice.
This summer, the device at Hamurana was taken out to be used, but an ambulance was quick to respond to the scene and it was not needed.
While fire stations had defibrillators, these were not always accessible.
“The thing around heart attacks - it is vital, getting support for the person as quickly as possible.”
Lake Rotomā/Lake Rotoehu Community Association chairman Andrew Smith said that was why it would be such an asset for both the community and visitors alike, particularly as it was always available.
“Any emergency services take time to organise, and as time is of the essence when it comes to heart issues, having one accessible 24/7 is a fantastic asset to us.”
Hato Hone St John clinical services deputy chief executive Dr Damian Tomic said early use of an automated external defibrillator (AED) when someone is suffering a cardiac arrest could save a life.
“Every minute of delay without CPR and defibrillation decreases the chances of survival by 10 to 15 per cent.
“People can learn or encourage others to learn how to perform CPR and use an AED. Would you know what to do if someone went into cardiac arrest? If not, you should,” he said.
Between July 2021 and June 2022, more than 2000 people were treated for a cardiac arrest in the community - about six people a day.
Only 22 per cent survived arrival to a hospital, and 11 per cent survived the 30 days following cardiac arrest.
Tomic encouraged people to learn CPR and sign up for a free community course.
He also said those confident in CPR could sign up to be a GoodSAM responder, getting alerts when there was someone nearby in cardiac arrest.
“Survival rates can more than double with community help when someone is having a cardiac arrest, and bystanders can save lives by starting CPR and using an AED.”
- Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ on Air.
