Two Moss Vale pharmacies have joined Guy Leech's quest to locate defibrillators within 180 seconds of every person in Australia.
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When pharmacy owners Nick Knowles and Robert Shakeshaft heard about the former Australian Ironman champion's quest, both teams decided to help.
The two organised Heart180 defibrillators to be located in each of their pharmacies central to the Moss Vale community.
Both Mr Knowles and Mr Shakeshaft said Heart180 was about "providing an important life-saving community service to Moss Vale".
Pharmacists and many of their team members have first aid and CPR certification as part of their professional practice requirements.
However there is an opportunity for every community pharmacy to be part of the solution to Australia's biggest killer 'out of hospital' sudden cardiac arrest.
In regional areas 65 per cent of people are within 2.5km of a community pharmacy, where as in metro areas it is 95 per cent of people.
In 2016 Mr Leech's good friend 'Chucky' collapsed from sudden cardiac arrest and died later that week, even though Mr Leech performed initial CPR and emergency services attended.
"Defibrillation is essentially the core factor that determines if a person in cardiac arrest will survive" Mr Leech said.
"Statistics show that if you are able to get the defibrillator on a victim within the first three minutes it'll shock their survival rate to above 90 per cent and with an average ambulance response time of 12 minutes, you must act fast".
For any business contemplating why they might become involved in the Heart180 army, Mr Leech said more than 30,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests occur each year in Australia.
"With fewer than 10 per cent currently surviving, public access to defibrillation can quite literally mean the difference between life and death," Mr Leech said.
"In Australia there are approximately 100,000 defibrillators, which based on the geographical size of Australia means that there is currently insufficient coverage of these life saving devices."
Both pharmacy teams will undergo further training in how to use it by accessing online training from the Heart180 portal.
To find out more about how you can become part of the Heart180 Army or arrange a presentation for your business, contact Nick or Robert at their pharmacies.
Alternatively you can email heart180defibs@tpg.com.au or contact Scott Carpenter on 0490 705 651.
