The Bega Bombers Aussie Rules Club has become the first in the Sapphire Coast AFL to install a portable defribrillator at its home ground.
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The Bombers joined forces with the Bega Showground Trust to apply for a Southern Phones grant to purchase the machine, which will now be accessible to all groups using the showground.
Bombers president Alex Nicol said it is a common misconception that heart attacks only occur in older, less fit individuals.
“There are numerous instances of young sports people collapsing and dying during a sporting event,” Nicol said.
“And evidence proves that the availability of a portable defibrillator can save lives.”
The Bega Showground defibrillator has been purchased through Defib Your Club for Life, an initiative of St John’s Ambulance, which will maintain the machine, provide training in its use and link its location into a growing network of these life-saving machines.
It’s estimated that one in every 1000 people have an undiagnosed heart condition and cardiac arrest can occur without any warning in apparently healthy people.
“I can attest to that myself,” Nicol said.
“I consider myself reasonably fit for my age and suffered a cardiac arrest while exercising.
“Critically, I didn’t even know what was happening to me, but I now understand just how important it is in such a situation to get help as quickly as possible.”
Nicol said the defibrillator was a major step forward for the club’s safety and infrastructure, and could even save a life.
“Experience shows that the most successful outcomes are seen when defibrillation occurs within five minutes of the patient having a cardiac arrest,” he said.
“For every minute that passes there is a 10 per cent drop in the chance of survival.”
At large grounds like the MCG, first aid teams are equipped with the device and Nicol said survival rates of people suffering cardiac arrest are 85 per cent.
This compares to an estimated seven to 10 per cent when machines are not available.
The St John’s Ambulance service is undertaking a training session on the use of the machine, but Nicol said the model was designed so that anyone is capable of using it in the case of an emergency.
“The Bombers and the Showground Trust are grateful to Southern Phone for making this initiative possible and are proud of the fact that the Bega Showground is now equipped with this modern life saving device,” Nicol said.
