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Two of five new 24-hour defibrillators planned for the Ōrewa and Silverdale area are now in place, as the Ōrewa Lions Club works to improve access to the lifesaving equipment.
The first automated external defibrillators (AEDs) have been installed outside the Sea Scouts Hut at Arundel Reserve in north Ōrewa and New World Ōrewa on Moana Avenue.
Three more are planned for Woolworths Ōrewa on Moenui Avenue, Hibiscus Coast Community House near Te Ara Tahuna and Pak’nSave Silverdale on Brian Smith Drive, and will be installed over the next few months, the club says.
The project was initiated by Lions Club of Ōrewa project convenor Jack Jansen, who was concerned about the limited number of defibrillators available around the clock.
The units are installed in locked cabinets outside buildings, making them accessible 24 hours a day rather than only when businesses or community facilities are open.
Signs at each site provide a phone number to call. St John will provide the access code for the cabinet, while the defibrillator gives spoken instructions to guide a user through the process.
Early cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and defibrillation can significantly improve a person’s chances of surviving an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest.
Figures supplied by the Lions Club show survival was 49 per cent when a defibrillator was used before an ambulance arrived, compared with seven per cent when one was not used.
The project has been funded partly through the club’s monthly sausage sizzles at Bunnings Silverdale.
Additional funding came from the Lloyd Morgan Lions Clubs Charitable Trust and an Auckland Council/Hibiscus and Bays Local Board grant.
Once all five units are installed, they will be clearly signposted and available without people needing prior knowledge of their location or access to an app.
