(Feature image: Mark Groote, with Daniel Lowe in the middle, and on the right Darryl Cotter)
The partnership between OTR and St John Ambulance SA, has seen the 50th defibrillator installed at the new OTR Aberfoyle Park store.
The aim of this process is to save lives in the community from sudden cardiac arrest, including staff members at stores.
“Having public access defibrillators located in high-traffic and high-visibility areas is so important when it comes to cardiac arrest survival rates,” says St John Ambulance SA Chief Executive Officer Mark Groote.
“For every minute that passes without defibrillation, the chances of survival decrease by 10%. It is fantastic to see our partnership with OTR extending across so many sites, which will ultimately save lives in South Australia.”
Approximately 30,000 Australians suffer from sudden cardiac arrest each year.
OTR General Manager Darryl Cotter says, “OTR is at the heart of South Australia’s metropolitan and regional communities and we are proud to support an investment that can potentially save lives and promote awareness and use of defibrillators.”
The partnership is particularly important to OTR due to two staff members having suffered from cardiac arrests while in public in recent years.
The Automated External Defibrillators (Public Access) Bill 2020 is currently before parliament, in a bid to increase the installation of the life saving devices throughout the state.
If the legislation is passed, public access defibrillators will become mandatory in a wide variety of public buildings, facilities and vehicles, further contributing to improved outcomes for sudden cardiac arrest in South Australia.
All OTR public access defibrillators will be registered with SA Ambulance Service so triple zero callers will be directed to the nearest device in the event of an emergency, which may be at their local OTR store around the corner.
