CFA brigades across the outer northern suburbs of Melbourne have equipped their stations with encased community defibrillators, courtesy of Bendigo Bank and generous donations.
The new defibrillators have been installed inside a cabinet on the exterior of the fire stations located in Arthurs Creek, Plenty, Eltham and Diamond Creek in the past year, and are available to the community 24/7.
If a member of the community requires a defibrillator urgently, a call to Triple Zero (000) will assist with gaining access to exterior cabinet and the equipment.
Arthurs Creek Captain Warren Rees said the brigade is excited to provide the community with a vital resource that one day may just save someone’s life.
“This is absolutely a community asset,” he said.
“Our station is located opposite the recreation reserve where a lot of community sport is played and should someone in the community find themselves in a situation where they need one, it’s available to all.
“It could also be a useful asset for nearby motor vehicle collisions and incidents involving cyclists.”
Firefighters are encouraging the community to be aware of the new community defibrillators and how to access them so that in the circumstance it is required, it will be top of mind. It is understood they are the only defibrillators in Arthurs Creek and Diamond Creek available 24/7.
The Bendigo Bank community grant contributed a sum to the cost of each defibrillator and exterior cabinet, totalling around $3000.
Brigades then used funds from generous community donations to make up the difference.
Diamond Creek Captain Peter Clarkson said he wanted to deliver a defibrillator to the community that was accessible at any time.
“I put a call out to see how many defibrillators were located in Diamond Creek and at what times they were accessible,” he said.
“It turned out there was roughly around 26 in the area, but none of them were accessible by the public after business hours.
“Having it situated at the station provides a central point for anyone to use it if they need to and we are grateful to Bendigo Bank and the community for helping us deliver this.”
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