Restart a Heart Day

The Hon. D.G.E. HOOD (15:20): My question is to the Minister for Health and Wellbeing. Will the minister update the chamber on initiatives within the primary care sector?

The Hon. S.G. WADE (Minister for Health and Wellbeing) (15:20): I thank the honourable member for his question and for his interest in health care. In terms of primary healthcare initiatives, last month we celebrated the international Restart a Heart Day, a day to raise awareness of the importance of hands-on CPR. Paramedics and heart attack survivors took the opportunity to work to highlight the importance of people across the state learning to call, push and shock in the event of a cardiac emergency: call 000; push (meaning use CPR); and shock (apply a defibrillator).

The stark statistic is that only one in 10 South Australians survive a cardiac arrest, but this figure can be significantly improved with bystander CPR and a shock from an automatic external defibrillator. Fifty-eight per cent of witnessed cardiac arrests in South Australia result in bystander CPR. This number has remained relatively unchanged over the past seven years. This figure is particularly unfortunate when an individual suffering a cardiac arrest is more than twice as likely to survive if somebody intervenes in the first few minutes, either with CPR or a defibrillator. For every minute with CPR, the chances of surviving a cardiac arrest are reduced by 10 per cent; after 10 minutes, without it there is little chance of survival at all.

South Australian paramedics and ambulance officers perform a vital service to the community in the work they do, but if more South Australians were trained in these skills it would bring additional and significant benefits. Community groups and businesses are encouraged to acquire a defibrillator and register it. People should be made aware of defibrillator locations and, if they are registered, 000 will alert bystanders. Lives can be saved through increased awareness and simple training.

I take this opportunity to commend the Presiding Officers for the work that has been done in this building to ensure that defibrillators are available. There are four defibrillators located in this building: in Old Parliament House the defibrillator is located on the street level in the atrium entering from the courtyard; in this building proper, on the lower ground floor there is a defibrillator at the stairs next to the loading dock; on the ground floor a defibrillator is located outside the Legislative Council messengers' office; and there is none on the first floor but one on the second floor opposite the lift. I am a bit concerned to note that there are none on the first floor, considering that is the floor I am on.

I had the opportunity myself on Restart a Heart Day to join a heart attack survivor, together with paramedics from SA Ambulance Service, in undertaking CPR training. I would encourage all South Australians to consider undertaking training in CPR, which they can do through the SA Ambulance website, and I thank the Ambulance Service for their support of this initiative.