Shocktober: St John to teach 10,000 people Three Steps for Life in its Restart a Heart Day campaign

PUSH is to start CPR. Only 25 per cent of cardiac arrest patients survive hospital arrival and 11 per cent leave hospital alive. Photo / St John

St John is on a mission to empower 10,000 people with the Three Steps for Life as part of its Shocktober and Restart a Heart Day campaigns.

Cardiac arrest remains one of the leading causes of death in Aotearoa New Zealand, with more than 2000 people a year treated for cardiac arrest. Of those, only 25 per cent survive hospital arrival and 11 per cent leave hospital alive.

Hato Hone St John head of community education Jacci Tatnell says while the statistics are alarming, the good news is survival rates can double with a little help from a friend.

"Bystander CPR can mean the difference between life or death, which is why we are committed to training as many people as possible in Ngā Tohu Whakaora e Toru – the Three Steps for Life programme: Call, Push, Shock - Call 111, Push is to start CPR, and Shock is to use an automated external defibrillator (AED)," Tatnell says.

CALL 111 is the first of the Three Steps for Life message. Photo / St John

"Our goal is to deliver it to 10,000 people by leveraging on Restart a Heart Day on Sunday, October 16, and focusing the whole month of October on CPR and AED training - which is also why we've coined it Shocktober."

To help deliver on that goal, Hato Hone St John will be holding free public training events across the motu.

"We're super-excited because this is the first time in two years that we have been able to mark Restart a Heart Day with public training events due to the pandemic."

Tatnell says the urgency to learn CPR and how to use an AED was more important than ever, given that the latest Out of Hospital Cardiac Arrest Report showed cardiac survival rates fell during the pandemic.

"The more people we can empower with the Three Steps for Life, which is a free programme, the more lives are likely to be saved."

SHOCK is to use an automated external defibrillator (AED). Learn how to locate the nearest public AED at aedlocations.co.nz. Photo / NZME

St John also encourages everyone who learns the 3 Steps for Life to become a GoodSAM responder.

"This means they will be alerted when someone nearby is in cardiac arrest so they can respond before emergency services arrive – giving that person the best chance of survival," Tatnell says.

Restart a Heart Day and Shocktober events in Waikato are:
● Hamilton Farmers Market - Saturday, October 8, 8am to noon
● Cambridge Market - Saturday, October 8, 8am to noon
AED numbers in the community are growing, with more than 5500 registered throughout the country. That number has been bolstered at marae across New Zealand with gifts of AEDs to vulnerable communities thanks to ASB, with the support of Philips and St John. In addition, all ASB branches have AEDs.

ACTIONS

● Register for the GoodSAM app if you are trained in first aid and CPR.
● Download the free St John mobile CPR app for instructions on how to do CPR.
● Learn how to locate the nearest public AED at aedlocations.co.nz or download the AED locations app.
● Participate in the #9for9 challenge on social media to raise awareness about the seriousness of cardiac arrest and remember the nine out of 10 people who don't survive.