October is nationally recognised as Defibrillation Awareness Month. Shoctober was initiated by the Cardiac Arrest Survival Foundation in 2006. The organisations primary goal has been to raise awareness of the desperate need for defibrillators in workplaces and public spaces, due to the growing number of incidences of Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA).
What is Sudden Cardiac Arrest?
SCA is an electrical problem in the heart. SCA’s occur when there is an unexpected electrical abnormality, causing life threatening arrhythmias resulting in a reduced ability or failure in the heart to effectively pump blood to the brain and around the body. SCA usually occurs without warning and the majority of victims did not have any previous symptoms of heart disease.
In Australia, SCA is a leading cause of death. Prompt defibrillation (a shock delivered within the first 3-5 minutes after the victim collapses) can increase survival rate of the victim by 50%. Currently worldwide, less than 5% of victims survive largely due to the fact that an AED did not arrive in time (owing to ambulance response times, especially in built-up metropolitan areas). Even though more than 30,000 people die from SCA every year, there is scant distribution of defibrillators- either at the workplace or in public place
What is a defibrillator?
An Automatic External Defibrillator (AED) is a small, portable medical device designed to deliver an electrical shock to a person who is having a SCA. An AED is designed to be used by the first responder (who does not need any medical training) on the unconscious victim. An AED will only allow a shock to be delivered to a victim in cardiac arrest who is in ventricular fibrillation (VF) or ventricular tachycardia (VT). An AED will not administer a shock inappropriately.
Many organisations such as St John of God and CBD College run Senior First Aid courses and Defibrillation refresher courses both on and off site. The majority of these organisations have easily accessible online resources for additional contact information and registration forms.
To host your own Shoctober event at your workplace REGISTER at www.shoctober.org.au.
Arche Health offers the HeartBeat program which is a FREE 7-week education and exercise program for people who have/had heart disease or are at risk of developing a heart condition. Click here to learn more about our HeartBeat program. For more information call 9458 0594.