More than 9000 people experience an out of hospital cardiac arrest in NSW every year. Cardiac arrest is often unexpected, and for every minute a patient doesn’t get chest compressions, also called Cardio-Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR), their chances of survival fall by 7-10%.
The NSW community is being encouraged to help save lives by signing up to the free GoodSAM app, with NSW Ambulance launching a volunteer recruitment campaign today.
Minister for Health Ryan Park said the GoodSAM program will give people who are in cardiac arrest a better chance of survival by alerting nearby registered community members who are prepared to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR).
Three lives have already been saved through an initial six-week pilot involving 1,600 NSW Ambulance clinical and corporate staff, who volunteered as GoodSAM responders.
GoodSAM is integrated with the NSW Ambulance Triple Zero (000) dispatch system and connects volunteers to patients in the critical first minutes of a cardiac arrest until paramedics arrive.
If you are willing and able to perform CPR, and are aged 18 or older, you can sign up to receive alerts when someone needs help.
GoodSAM will also show you any publicly accessible defibrillators that have been registered with GoodSAM, and you can use these if you feel able. Last year, a global network of 1.5 million GoodSAM volunteers helped save the life of a cardiac arrest patient on average every three minutes.
By registering as a GoodSAM volunteer, you can help keep them alive, while paramedics arrive.