Tuesday, 3 October 2023

Cardiac arrest incidents at all time high in Victoria, Australia

Channel 7 News in Melbourne, Australia reports that “Cardiac incidents are at the highest ever recorded in Victoria.”

The news outlet states that paramedics responded to over 7000 incidents of cardiac arrests in Victoria last year, an increase of 6 percent from the previous year. Ambulance Victoria reports that only 1 in 10 people survive the deadly medical emergency, with around 20 people having a cardiac arrest daily in the Australian state.

Ambulance Victoria is now launching campaigns in response to the surge to encourage the public to learn CPR plus how to use an Automatic External Defibrillator (AED) and to become a “GoodSAM Responder” on their mobile app.

Their current campaign is called “Shocktober,” in reference to AEDs and the electrical shock they provide to potentially restart a heart that has stopped beating.

Their website states that a CPR certification is not necessary to join and shares “how-to” 5-minute videos for visitors. Participants in the GoodSAM program must only be 18 or older and have a smartphone.

The VACAR (Victorian Ambulance Cardiac Arrest Registry) Annual Report from last year, 2021-2022, states exactly 7,361 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests took place across the state.

Data from the VACAR Annual Report the previous year, 2020-2021, revealed that that year had previously been the record holder for cardiac arrest incidents before shooting up by almost 6 percentage points beginning in 2021.