BORN with major heart defects, five-year-old Callum has had four open-heart operations.
Now in his first year of school, he’s the reason behind the donation of defibrillator unit to Truganina South Primary School.
Callum’s prep teacher, Abbey Lynch, wrote to the Laverton community bank requesting the gift as part of its roll-out of 88 units to sports clubs, schools and public facilities across Wyndham and Hobsons Bay.
“Having this student in my class has made me realise the importance of heart health and being prepared in the event of a cardiac arrest,” she says.
“Hopefully, we won’t ever have to use it, but once our training for using the device is done, I’ll feel the classroom will be a safer environment.”
Portable defibrillator units use step-by-step voice prompts to tell operators how to give cardio-pulmonary resuscitation. The units determine the required rate, automatically diagnose the patient’s condition and, if necessary, deliver an electric charge to shock the heart back to its normal rhythm.
Laverton community bank branch manager Ashley Coles says the defibrillator donations were prompted by the death of Sunbury footballer Stephen Buckman. Buckman was 19 when he collapsed during training on May 29, 2010. Paramedics treated the Rupertswood ruckman for more than an hour before he was taken to the Royal Melbourne Hospital, where he died about 20 minutes after arrival.
“We’re hopeful that soon anyone within the Hobsons Bay and Wyndham council areas won’t be more than five minutes from a defibrillator device,” Mr Coles says.
Andrew White, founder of the Defib Your Club for Life program, says defibrillators can save lives.
“Research tells us that the cardiac arrest survival rate is 85per cent if automatic defibrillators are readily available,” he says.
“This is compared to a 7-10per cent chance where the life-saving equipment is not accessible.”
