Good news rang out across the Goulburn region on Wednesday afternoon, as Member for Goulburn Pru Goward announced the distribution of a further 11 defibrillators for sporting clubs across her electorate.
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In a press release, Ms Goward announced that local sporting clubs have been awarded a total of $14,300 in funding to put towards defibrillators.
These clubs were spread across Yass, Crookwell, Goulburn, and the Southern Tablelands.
One such club was the Crookwell Bowling Club, and secretary Barry Storier could not thank the government enough for the funding.
”Obviously that’s a marvelous saving, and if you can get the funding on a small club like ours, geez it’s money well spent,” Mr Storier said.
“I thank them a lot. I know we’re only small clubs compared to the larger clubs, but a life’s a life and these things could make the difference between life and death.”
Mr Storier has a history of working in healthcare, and he knows exactly what kind of impact that a defibrillator can have on victims of cardiac events.
“I’m the secretary there and I’ve only been in that position for five or six years,” he said. “In the time before I was there, there had been two fatal cardiac events.
“I know the percentages how much different it is to CPR. If you have someone who knows CPR on the ground, your chance of surviving is around 20 percent, but if you have a defibrillator there your chance goes up to 60 or 70 percent.”
Since so many local sporting organisations are not-for-profit, Mr Ahearn believes that grants like this will significantly ease the financial burden.
“If you’ve got them in the facility, it’s not hard to do the training on them. I think they’re a marvelous thing, a great thing,” Mr Storier said.
A defibrillator is a necessity in sports like bowling in particular, because the participants tend to be older and thus more susceptible to heart problems.
“We think it’ll be a wonderful thing because bowlers are older,” he said.
“I’m not saying those things would’ve saved those two gentlemen, but it’s certainly a long way ahead of CPR.”
Many local clubs across the Goulburn electorate have applied for the Local Sport Defibrillation Program, and Ms Goward was thrilled that there was such strong support.
“So far more than 430 defibrillators have been allocated across the state and I am confident the addition of 11 defibrillators across Goulburn will benefit hundreds of local players and spectators,” Ms Goward said.
In the unlikely event that a defibrillator will be needed, it can also greatly improve a victim’s chances of surviving a cardiac episode.
“More than 33,000 Australians experience cardiac arrest every year and early access to CPR and defibrillation can influence survival rates by up to 75 percent,” Minister for Sport David Ayres said.
