He might be known as the original Yellow Wiggle, but Greg Page is using his voice to spread awareness on the importance of Automated External Defibrillators (AED).
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In 2020 Greg survived a sudden cardiac arrest at a bushfire relief concert, thanks to CPR and an AED.
Greg has now partnered with BDCU and Capitol Chemist in Bowral to help promote Heart of the Nation.
"Heart of the Nation came to me because I realised after my own sudden cardiac arrest that there are actually a lot of AEDs out in the community already, but people might not be aware where they are," he said.
"If we can have a system whereby people can get familiar with the location of an AED by seeing a sticker, it will let people know that there's an AED inside.
"They'll also be on the heart of the nation app. So if you download the heart of the nation app, you can find your nearest AED that's registered with heart of the nation, no matter where you are in Australia.
"So you could be here in Bowral, you could be in Perth, it could be in Sydney or Brisbane or wherever."
Greg stressed the importance of AEDS as the most vital link in the chain of survival when it came to surviving cardiac arrests.
"When you have an AED present for someone who's in cardiac arrest, their chance of survival is around 70 per cent," he said.
"Without it, survival is 10 per cent," he said.
"And that's just so ridiculously low, and we can change that.
"The way we can change it is by people knowing where an AED is, and knowing that you don't have to be trained to use one.
"Anyone can grab it and use it if they need to because AED tells you what to do.
"The people that saved my life with an AED had never used one before. They just turned it on, follow the instructions and they saved my life."
While AED is important to the chain of survival, Greg said CPR was just as important.
"CPR is incredibly important because it keeps blood flowing around the patient's body while you're waiting for an AED to be brought to the person.
"CPR needs to be maintained but CPR alone won't resuscitate somebody who's in cardiac arrest, you need CPR and the AED."
Capital Chemist store manager Emily said AEDs came with packs and instructions so that anyone could use them in times of an emergency.
"There's defibrillator pads, a razor to remove any hair, scissors to remove clothes," she said.
"The person should have no jewellery, hair or clothes covering the chest when an AED is used but the AED will talk you through it."
She also said two people should respond to someone in the middle of a cardiac arrest.
"One person on CPR and then someone using the AED," she said.
"CPR should be the first thing people should do, if there's no response then they should use an AED."
Capital Chemist will soon have a Heart of the Nation sticker on the front door.
To find out more, or to download the app visit www.heartofthenation.com.au/
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Vera Demertzis
Journalist at the Southern Highland News covering council yarns and community news. Got a tip or a story to tell? Email vera.demertzis@southernhighlandnews.com.au or call on 0427 250 908.
Journalist at the Southern Highland News covering council yarns and community news. Got a tip or a story to tell? Email vera.demertzis@southernhighlandnews.com.au or call on 0427 250 908.
