Heart Safe Communities

The aims of the Heart Safe Community initiative

The Heart Safe Community initiative aims to improve survival rates for people suffering cardiac arrest across Victoria by teaching community members how to perform CPR and use an AED when others need it most. This is a joint initiative between Ambulance Victoria and the Heart Foundation.

The program aims to:

• Raise community awareness of cardiac arrest
• Promote the role of Triple Zero (000) in a cardiac emergency
• Teach people CPR skills and how to use a defibrillator
• Identify and register existing defibrillators
• Install and register new defibrillators
• promote and educate on the use of smart phone technologies, like GoodSAM

Heart Safe Community locations are selected based on the following:

• ambulance demand
• number of cardiac arrests
• rates of bystander CPR
• number of publicly accessible AEDs
• population and demographics
• access to health care
• infrastructure
• community capacity and readiness to engage

Success stories

Team effort brings back grandfather

Inverloch grandfather John McLennan, 75, survived a sudden cardiac arrest thanks to the quick actions of bystanders and GoodSAM responders. On 1 September 2024, John collapsed at home and was found unresponsive by his wife Pam who immediately called Triple Zero (000) and began CPR.

GoodSAM responders Luisa Corrigan and Kathryn Croatto arrived within minutes, assisting with CPR and using an AED to deliver two life-saving shocks before paramedics arrived and took over. Remarkably, John was out of ICU within 24 hours and has since made an extraordinary recovery.

Pam credits John’s survival to her prior CPR training and having an AED readily available at home, highlighting the importance of early intervention in saving lives.

Read John’s incredible survival story.

Cardiac arrest survivor

The success of the program was evident on Christmas Day 2018, when Tatura had its first survival story as a result of the program. Local paramedic Ben Johansen attended the cardiac arrest of David Hughes, where bystander Andrea Manners was performing CPR. Andrea had learned CPR during a Heart safe Community session months prior. Because of the Andrea’s actions on that day, David is now back at work having made a full recovery. Watch David’s incredible story and the success that Tatura have had as Victoria’s first Heart Safe Community.

Evaluation

Melbourne University evaluated the initiative and the overall findings demonstrated that the pilot sites built local community capacity to respond to out of hospital cardiac arrest as demonstrated by increased community knowledge, confidence and skills to call 000, attempt chest compressions and acquire and use an AED. Download the Heart Safe Community Pilot Final Report (3.5 MB PDF)

We know that lives have been saved, and more will be saved, because of this initiative. We are committed to working with more communities across Victoria to improve out of hospital cardiac arrests survival rates.