Ambulance Victoria’s Stawell branch will host a free community event in Stawell and Halls Gap on Tuesday, October 16 to raise awareness of the day and to teach three simple tips to save a life.

Paramedics will be available to talk to the community at the Halls Gap Visitor Information Centre between 9am and 12pm about restart a heart day and provide practical demonstrations.

A second session in Stawell will follow in the afternoon between 2 and 5pm. 

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A sausage sizzle will be in the Stawell Woolworths car park which will be followed by CPR and defibrillator demonstrations, along with practical exercises for the community to take part in under the guidance of local paramedics.

Ambulance Victoria Stawell team manager Stacie Waddell said early CPR and defibrillation is critical when someone experiences a cardiac arrest.

“Someone who has experienced a cardiac arrest will be unresponsive and not breathing. To help them you need to call Triple Zero, start CPR compressions by pushing hard and fast on their chest, and shock them using an Automated External Defibrillator (AED),” she said.

“As a paramedic when you arrive at a scene where bystanders have already started CPR and used a defibrillator, you know that patient already has a much greater chance of survival than if no one stepped in.

“Anyone can learn how to call, push, shock and save a life so we want to see as many people as possible at our community day so we can teach them what to do, and they can help us save lives.”

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Ambulance Victoria figures show around 6000 Victorians experience cardiac arrest away from hospital each year, with an increasing number of cases in rural Victoria over the past 10 years.

“Cardiac arrest can happen to anyone, anytime, anywhere with 91 per cent of cases in Victoria occurring in the home or in a public place. The more of us who know what to do in this situation the more chance we have of increasing the survival rate of people who experience this condition,” Ms Waddell said.

This is the third year that Ambulance Victoria has partnered with Restart A Heart Day which is a worldwide campaign that aims to save lives by increasing bystander CPR rates and AED use in the event of a cardiac arrest.