‘It takes a system to save a victim’: Resus expert

St John Ambulance Australia’s resuscitation specialist Jason Belcher told the Australian Resuscitation Council WA Branch conference at its July 12 event that “community builds the foundation for survival” when someone experiences an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest.

“You’re three times more likely to be a survivor if you receive a defibrillation shock in the community,” Mr Belcher told the conference, noting Western Australia had just celebrated 3000 publicly accessible 24/7 Automated External Defibrillators on the State network, maintained by St John WA.

The Australian Resuscitation Council is a voluntary co-ordinating body which represents all major groups involved in the teaching and practice of resuscitation. The ARC produces guidelines to meet its objectives in fostering uniformity and simplicity in resuscitation techniques and terminology. 

Mr Belcher is St John WA’s Resuscitation Improvement Specialist and has advocated expansion of the State Defibrillator Network. The network is managed as part of St John WA’s committment to building community capability in responding to OHCA, and co-authored research and reports on survivability of OHCA both in WA and at a national level.

The conference also saw the inaugural screening of a new Chain of Survival film, shot with support of North Metropolitan Health Service. The film shows how the St John WA First Responder App can expand to enable first responders to attend in-home OHCA emergencies, which is currently in a planning phase for a pilot for St John WA personnel.

Survivors stories were also screened, to highlight how a rapid first response from community can make the difference in the critical first few minutes before an ambulance arrives.