Rezza steps it up for heart health

Reservoir locals have joined forces to create one of the safest suburbs in Australia to experience sudden cardiac arrest.

With the help of St John Ambulance and its Defib in Your Street program, there are now 13 24/7 publicly accessible defibrillators in Reservoir – and most of them are in residents’ front yards.

A defibrillator uses electricity to restart the heart or shock it back into its correct rhythm. Before the program started, 95% of residents didn’t live within in 400m of one, and none of them were available 24/7.

Why Reservoir? Well, it has the fifth highest number of cardiac arrests in Victoria, making it an ideal place to trial the program.

Reservoir Neighbourhood House is one place you can now find a 24/7 defibrillator, and team member Kate says it’s a huge benefit having them around.

“Knowing there are steps being taken to reduce the amount of deaths and people affected by heart attacks in the area is brilliant.”

“The response from the community has been very positive, especially with the free training that comes along with the defibrillator,” she says.

Kate thinks it’s also great that people can opt in to have a machine on their property. 

“If anyone is interested in having one put on their doorstep, they can actually be the point in their street where people can access lifesaving help,” she says.

To get involved or find out where your closest defibrillator is, head to St John's Defib in Your Street.

  • Pictured: Reservoir Neighbourhood House's Kate, Thorne and Lia show off their new defibrillator.