ST JOHN NT
NEWSROOM

St John Ambulance Australia (NT) Inc. (St John NT) will hand over a public access defibrillator at the Darwin Waterfront at 1pm today.
The defibrillator, also referred to as an AED (Automatic External Defibrillator), is sponsored by the City of Darwin as part of St John NT’s aim to have 1000 public access defibrillators installed across the Territory by the end of 2021.
The AED will be installed just weeks after a member of the public, Mr Peter Brady experienced a cardiac arrest in the Waterfront precinct.
Thanks to the quick thinking efforts of several off duty nurses and the Waterfront life guards who used CPR and a defibrillator to revive him, Mr Brady is now on the road to recovery.
St John NT Director Ambulance Services Andrew Thomas said that of the approximate 30,000 Australians who suffer a cardiac arrest out of hospital every year, tragically only 1 in 10 of these people survive.
“Early defibrillation can more than double a victim’s chance of survival,” he said.
“In fact, early defibrillation, along with CPR, is the only way to restore the person’s heart rhythm to normal in a lot of cases of cardiac arrest.
“For every minute that passes without CPR and defibrillation, however, the chances of survival decrease by 10%.”
Lord Mayor Kon Vatskalis said the City of Darwin is pleased to provide funding to support this program, which could provide lifesaving assistance to a member of the community or a visitor to the city.
“Having AED’s readily available at key locations across the city is a great outcome. City of Darwin is delighted to make this investment, which we know can save lives.”
This is the second device sponsored by City of Darwin, with the first one installed at the Galleria in  Smith Street Mall in November.
“AED’s are safe and easy to use and CPR can be taught to anyone with some coaching,” added Mr Thomas. 
“It can happen to anyone, anytime, anywhere and at any age.”