OTR and St John Ambulance SA join forces to save lives in Port Augusta
On Thursday 13 September, OTR and St John Ambulance SA will join together to install its fourth public access defibrillator at the Port Augusta OTR site with the hope that it could save lives in the community of Port Augusta in the case of sudden cardiac arrest. The local Port Augusta community are invited to the OTR Port Augusta site from 11am – 12pm on the day to receive free CPR training by St John Ambulance SA.
In May of this year, the two organisations came together and committed to install defibrillators in OTR stores across the state with an aim to assist in saving lives of those in regional communities across South Australia, with the first 12 installed by the end of 2018.
OTR Chief Operating Officer, Peter Piliouras, is proud to be part of this important partnership with St John Ambulance SA which will ultimately save lives of South Australians and support regional communities.
“We installed the first defibrillator at OTR Nuriootpa, followed by OTR Mannum and then OTR Tailem Bend and all have been very well received by their local communities” Peter said.
“OTR is at the heart of South Australian communities and we are proud to support an investment that can potentially save lives and promote awareness and use of defibrillators in regional areas,” concluded Peter.
Each year approximately 30,000 Australians suffer from sudden cardiac arrest.
Michael Cornish, CEO St John Ambulance SA, explains “there is a 90% chance of surviving a cardiac arrest if defibrillated within the first minute; for every minute that passes, the chance of survival reduces by 10%.”
“St John Ambulance SA strongly believes high visibility public sites that are open 24 hours are ideal places for a defibrillator and we are very happy to see OTR helping to look after the wellbeing of South Australians, particularly in regional communities” Michael said.
Before the end of 2018 OTR are committed to installing further defibrillators at their sites in Kingscote on Kangaroo Island, Ceduna, Whyalla, Port Lincoln, Naracoorte, Mount Gambier, Renmark and Loxton.
18th September 2018