Northern Beaches Defibrillator Access
Northern Beaches defibrillator roll out – well done Duncan Kerr! With this great initiative we need to make sure the Northern Beaches community is trained in CPR and defibrillator use. Please book into a HLTAID001 Provide CPR training course at the Dee Why RSL
Original Article – http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/newslocal/manly-daily/public-access-defibrillators-to-be-installed-in-hightraffic-areas-on-the-northern-beaches/news-story/d6a0fdc81ee672a5f7e55349dbba2c84
Public access defibrillators to be installed in high-traffic areas on the northern beaches
Robbie Patterson, Manly Daily
July 5, 2017 12:00am
PUBLICLY accessible defibrillators would be rolled out across high-priority areas of the northern beaches as part of a campaign to improve survival chances of heart attack victims.
Frenchs Forest resident Duncan Kerr, a paramedic of 10 years, has urged Northern Beaches Council to explore the possibility of putting 24-hour public-access defibrillators in high-traffic areas.
He highlighted areas such as The Corso at Manly, Warringah Mall and high-use sporting fields as key spots.
Mr Kerr said defibrillators were often hard to access as they are usually locked away inside sport clubs.
A public access defibrillator could be installed in Manly Corso. Picture: David Swift.
“These are public-access defibrillators, which means anyone can use, ” he said.
The former Warringah councillor and member of the Cardiac Arrest Survival Foundation, pointed to the peninsula’s only device of that calibre, which has been installed at Cromer Park.
“It is a big deal, especially at night or if you are just out walking the dog and no one else is around and something happens,” he said.
“They are always accessible and always monitored, which means when you pull the defibrillator out a triple-0 call is made.”
At last week’s Northern Beaches Council meeting, infrastructure general manager Ben Taylor agreed to look into the proposal.
Northern Beaches Council infrastructure general manager Ben Taylor. Picture: Troy Snook.
“If you save one life, it is well and truly worth supporting such a proposal,” he said. “My recommendation would be that council support sporting clubs in terms of the rollout of portable defibrillators but also look at high-priority sites across the local government area (for the public-access models).”
He said the council would “see if external funding from the Office of Sport and Recreation was available”, but would also look at the council’s budget.
Mr Kerr, who plans to run for the Northern Beaches Council, said he would be pushing this as a major policy issue ahead of the September 9 election.
