PHARMACY owners will be encouraged to have their staff trained and confident in using defibrillators, as part of a new partnership between the Pharmacy Guild of Australia and Guy Leech Heart180.
The alliance aims to promote the benefits of having a defibrillator located within a 180-second proximity of every Australian by Dec 2025, to reduce the impact of 30,000 lives lost annually to Sudden Cardiac Arrest.
Announcing the new partnership, Guild Executive Director, Suzanne Greenwood, said the out-of-hospital cardiac-arrest rates in Australia needed to be addressed.
"It is believed more than 33,000 people experience an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest in Australia every year," she said.
"The survival rate for these people is estimated at 9% on the high side, and as low as 5% on the downside.
"By any measure, these survival rates are frightening.
"For every minute that passes after a person has a cardiac arrest, the chance of survival decreases.
"Quick action can save a life and this is why we at the Guild have partnered with Heart180 to raise awareness of the risks of cardiac arrest and to start the process of trying to have a defibrillator located in every pharmacy throughout the country, with pharmacy staff fully trained in how to use it.
"There are some 5,900 community pharmacies across Australia, and in capital cities 97% of people are no further than 2.5km from a pharmacy.
"In regional areas, 65% of people are within 2.5km of a pharmacy.
"Community pharmacy is at the heart of every community."
Former Australian Ironman surf lifesaving champion and founder of Heart180, Guy Leech said, there was a need to reach as many people as possible to understand the risk.
"It makes sense that your local pharmacy has a defibrillator on hand and there's a pharmacist who is trained to assist," he said.
The above article was sent to subscribers in Pharmacy Daily's issue from 16 Mar 21
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