Victoria expands Heart Safe Communities program to improve cardiac arrest survival

Ambulance Victoria and the Heart Foundation are expanding the Heart Safe Communities program in Victoria, Australia, with 12 additional towns recently graduating from the initiative. This brings the total number of participating communities to 66. The program focuses on teaching residents essential life-saving skills, including recognizing cardiac arrest, performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), and using automated external defibrillators (AEDs).

As part of the annual Shocktober campaign, organizations such as Northern Health and Pacific Epping are also working to increase community awareness. A Restart a Heart Day event is scheduled for October 16 at the Pacific Epping Connect Hub to provide practical demonstrations and interactive learning.

Statistics indicate that approximately 21 Victorians suffer cardiac arrest every day, with a survival rate of only one in 10. However, survival chances more than double when a patient receives both CPR and an AED shock before paramedics arrive. To date, the initiative has trained over 4,300 people and registered more than 18,600 GoodSAM responders on the mobile app.