Bundaberg Defib Hero Community Activation Program

The ‘Defib Hero’ program involves activating the community to not only gain access to a defib, but the necessary skills and confidence to use a defib in an emergency.

A goal would be to ensure every resident in Bundaberg has access to a defib within 3 minutes.

Background

Sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) is the leading cause of death in Australia. Each year around 30,000 Australians die from SCA.

Up to 70% of these deaths can be prevented if treated within 3 minutes of the incident (Source, St John Ambulance).

In Bundaberg 6.4% of residents (6,363) have an existing heart condition comparted to 3.9% of all Australians (Source, ABS Census 2021). This places our community at greater risk of SCA.

At a recent Bundaberg Business Breakfast, Guy Leech, Founder of Heart180 was invited to speak about the importance of community access to defibrillators (defibs) in saving lives.

The mission of Heart180 is to place a defib within three minutes of every Australian and reduce the number of deaths from SCA.

Following the successful breakfast event, Guy Leech approached Council seeking to work towards launching Australia’s first “Defib Hero Community Activation Program”.

How the program will work

Heart180 conducts a 30-day activation where they work with local community groups to identify and register the locations of all existing defibs in our community.

Data on the location, condition, and status of all defibs will be placed on an app called ‘Defib Hero”.

This activation period commenced on 1 November 2023.

The app is already available:

Apple store: defib hero - Apple (AU)
Google Play: Defib Here - Android Apps on Google Play

On 29th of November, Heart180 will then launch the Defib Hero app in Bundaberg at a breakfast to be hosted by Guy Leech. The launch will include a report showing the current number and status of defibs in our community, and how Heart180 will roll out defibs and local training.

The world’s best community for access to defibs is the US city of Seattle. Over 3,000 defibs are located in Seattle where 75% of young people are also trained in defib use. Given this, there is a 4-5 times greater chance of surviving a SCA in Seattle than just about anywhere else in the world. There is 1 defib in Seattle for every 400 residents.

The goal would be to set Bundaberg up as a “Seattle” where the region leads Australia in access and training in defib use.

To do this, Heart180 will work with the Bundaberg community over the next 5 years to increase the number of defibs in our community through annual activations that educate and supply the region with defibs.

To monitor success, Heart180 will provide annual reports on improvements in defib access and use. Annual activations will include events to monitor, encourage, train and support defib use in the Bundaberg community.

Over time, the program will collect data on lives saved in Bundaberg as a result of the increase in defibs and training in the community.

Please register your interest here to log your own defib, participate or stay informed regarding the program.

Please register your interest here to be part of the Community Organisation Grant program.