Bec Avard, Neil McLeod and Brayden Gant oversaw the first rollout of Ambulance Victoria and the Heart Foundation’s initiative in Nagambie.
Photo by
Billie Davern
After being selected in the latest intake for a life-saving Ambulance Victoria and Heart Foundation initiative, Nagambie is well on its way to becoming a Heart Safe Community.
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Heart Safe Communities is a 12-month-long, community-driven program delivered by AV and the Heart Foundation.
Teaching locals to ‘Call, Push, Shock’ through intentional community engagement, Heart Safe Communities sees members of the public learn CPR, how to use a defibrillator and even how to volunteer as a GoodSAM responder.
“The key message around Heart Safe Communities is to improve the cardiac arrest survival rate at hospital,” AV area manager Bec Avard said.
“We know that, every day, around 21 Victorians suffer a cardiac arrest, and only one in 10 survive.
“It’s about teaching all Victorians the importance and power around learning CPR. You don’t have to be a paramedic to save someone’s life.”
On Thursday, October 16, local paramedics welcomed students from Nagambie Primary School to their set-up at Burkes Bakery.
In the first spate of the program’s rollout in the town, the students were taught the methods used when waiting for AV to arrive at the scene of a cardiac arrest.
Ms Avard said time was critical during these incidents, which is why teaching all Victorians how to respond was beneficial.
“Every minute matters in a cardiac arrest,” she said.
“Early CPR is probably the biggest predictor of survival for out-of-hospital cardiac arrests.
“The earlier you start CPR, the better chance that person has of survival, and it’s an even higher rate of survival when we can include an automated external defibrillator (AED) into that case.”
Nagambie Primary School students were taught how to ‘Call, Push, Shock’ by a team of paramedics.
Photo by
Billie Davern
Nagambie’s commencement of the Heart Safe Communities program coincides with Shocktober, an annual AV campaign which runs throughout October aimed at educating Victorians on how to act when someone nearby is experiencing a cardiac arrest.
Alongside promoting its ‘Call, Push, Shock’ method, which local paramedic Neil McLeod describes as “call for an ambulance, push on the chest and provide a shock (with an automated external defibrillator)”, the month promotes the GoodSAM initiative.
“One part of Shocktober is promoting the GoodSAM responder app,” Ms Avard said.
“It alerts people who are signed up as a volunteer that somebody nearby might be in cardiac arrest. It also alerts them to where their nearest AED is.”
GoodSAM is a free mobile app that connects patients in cardiac arrest with a nearby volunteer who is willing to begin hands-only CPR while paramedics are on their way.
Mr McLeod said knowing a GoodSAM responder was on the scene often put his mind at ease.
“Quite often, when we turn up, we’ve got things to do, and I’ll ask them if they can keep giving CPR while we’re setting up,” he said.
“It is comforting to turn up and the person there declares they’re a GoodSAM volunteer.”
A total of 54 Heart Safe Communities have been declared across Victoria since the program launched in 2019, with Nagambie one of 12 towns starting the program in 2025-26.
Over the next year, AV crews will be engaging the community in planned sessions and pop-ups to teach residents how to save a life.
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