St John Ambulance Canberra’s CEO, Adrian Watts, called last year for defibrillators in all ACT Government properties, to save the lives of people suffering sudden cardiac arrests.
So he was frustrated that Shadow Health Minister, Leanne Castley MLA’s motion to make defibrillators mandatory in all government schools, workplaces, and buses was watered down in the Legislative Assembly yesterday.
“It’s disappointing that the motion was effectively knocked back,” Mr Watts said.
Rachel Stephen-Smith, ACT Minister for Health, amended Ms Castley’s motion; instead, the government would “support government schools and agencies to increase the availability of defibrillators in their facilities”.
“It was a really soft acceptance, we’ll say, of the motion,” Mr Watts said. “Effectively the funding of defibrillators in every public building operated by the ACT Government is omitted.”
Still, the government’s commitment to supporting schools and agencies to increase the availability of defibrillators was positive, he thought.
“Whether they’re financially committed, or just emotionally, we’ll find out.”
Mr Watts hopes to meet Ms Stephen-Smith to discuss the matter.
Australian Red Cross and the Heart Foundation also supported Ms Castley’s motion, which she had hoped would be a nation-leading initiative.
Ms Castley said it was “disappointing” the government “said no” to her proposal.
“Defibrillators are often the difference between life and death,” Ms Castley told the Assembly when she presented her motion.
More than 30,000 Australians suffer from sudden cardiac arrest every year, but only five per cent survive, she stated. Providing CPR and using defibrillators greatly improve a cardiac arrest sufferer’s chance of survival.
“My hope is that, one day, they [defibrillators] will become a safety norm like smoke alarms or fire extinguishers,” Ms Castley said.
Automated external defibrillators can apply a safe electrical shock to restart the heart to its normal rhythm, and can be used alongside CPR, she noted.
“Following sudden cardiac arrest, the chances of survival decrease by up to 10 per cent for every minute that passes,” Ms Castley said before the debate.
Each defibrillator costs $2,500 for installation and upkeep, she stated. It would cost $250,000 to provide 100 defibrillators in government schools and workplaces, while St John Ambulance estimates it would cost the government $1 million to provide 400 defibrillators, which would be enough for all our schools, government buildings and buses
Her proposal followed the recent deaths of former Australian cricketers Rodney Marsh and Shane Warne, and Labor Senator Kimberley Kitching, all from heart attacks.
Currently, only 39 of the ACT public schools have defibrillators, but children can die from sudden cardiac arrest, while competing on sports fields, Ms Castley noted.
“Our schools must be ready to respond with an onsite [defibrillator] that is prominent and accessible to the whole school community,” she said.
Ms Stephen-Smith responded that ACT government schools assessed their risk profile in accordance with the First Aid Code of Practice and through consultation processes established per the Work Health and Safety Act 2011.
“The fact that the government thinks it’s appropriate that less than 50 per cent of their schools have access to defibrillators is appalling,” Mr Watts said.
“It is a really inexpensive way to ensure that we save lives. Valuing a life shouldn’t be valued by the price of a defibrillator. And if we are going to value our workers and students in our buildings, then why should we value some and not others? Why should we leave that to those local buildings or committees to do their own risk assessments to say: ‘Oh, well, we value these people or we don’t?’
“Sometimes school boards or school P&C’s don’t have the funds to do that. Why is it only the more affluent parts of the government that can afford to look after their people? The government needs to address that.”
Ms Castley also wanted defibrillators on all ACTION buses. Seven of the Transport Canberra incident response vehicles and 14 light rail vehicles had defibrillators, according to a letter from Chris Steel, ACT Minister for Transport, last year. But, Ms Castley remarked, they were funded by the Rotary Club of Aurora Gungahlin, not by the ACT Government.
Ms Stephen-Smith responded that Transport Canberra’s five Field Response Vans, based at each interchange across Canberra, could be deployed to respond rapidly to any emerging issues on bus services anywhere in the city.
Each Field Response Van was fitted with defibrillator equipment, and all Transport Canberra Transport Officers staffing these vans held first aid certificates. All Transport Canberra buses had radio communication to the Transport Canberra Control Room, which enabled a rapid response of emergency services and the incident response vehicles as required.
Ms Castley also called for a public education campaign to increase awareness and training in CPR and the use of defibrillators, as only two-fifths of Australians (41 per cent) were confident to use a defibrillator if necessary, according to a 2020 survey.
Following Ms Stephen-Smith’s amendment, the government would “consider ways to increase public awareness of the use of (and access to) defibrillators to save lives, in consultation with St John Ambulance and the Heart Foundation”.
Mr Watts said he reached out to Ms Stephen-Smith this morning to talk about how St John’s Ambulance could work with the government to increase public awareness and use of defibrillators. He also offered her a first-aid course and a refresher of a CPR course.
“Perhaps the Minister doesn’t have that first-hand experience of how essential access to a defibrillator is. It’s often that first-hand demonstration and understanding that actually empower people to make an action and make a change. Perhaps that’s what the Minister needs.”
