Local CFA volunteers to bolster cardiac arrest response

Beechworth Fire Brigade members now have the capacity to respond to select medical Triple Zero calls after completing CFA and Ambulance Victoria's Fire Medical Response program. The joint initiative will see CFA brigades and Ambulance Victoria paramedics dispatched simultaneously to cardiac arrests within the community. Beechworth Fire Brigade has been training with Ambulance Victoria for months, in preparation for the program which will complement the Ambulance Victoria service in the local area. There are currently 39 brigades operating this program across the state with a further 12 to come online in the very near future. Beechworth Fire Brigade went online on Wednesday, 8 April while the Benalla brigade will be coming online next month. Brigade captain Travis Nicholson said the decision to join the program was an easy one given the benefits it will provide the Beechworth community. “The brigade members have a long history of responding through the GoodSAM coresponder program so Fire Medical Response was a natural follow on, bringing the benefit of further training and advanced equipment to cardiac events,” he said. “What this program means is that community members who call for an ambulance may receive both a fire truck and an ambulance. “There is no specific order in which the services arrive to the incident.” CFA Deputy Chief Officer Garry Cook said the program was a natural fit for CFA because of the 52,000 volunteers across the state. “CFA has more than 1100 volunteer fire stations with more than 52,000 members,” he said. “This puts CFA in a unique position to complement the Ambulance Victoria response in 50 locations across Victoria to help deliver early intervention to cardiac arrests.” Ambulance Victoria Acting Executive Director of Regional Operations, Michael Georgiou, said Victoria has the best cardiac survival rate in Australia and is second only to Denmark worldwide, thanks to high rates of early intervention. “Victoria remains the safest state in Australia to go into cardiac arrest with Ambulance Victoria initiatives, such as the FMR program, saving lives,” he said. "By upskilling CFA brigades to provide life-saving intervention, particularly in areas where a fire truck may reach a patient sooner than an ambulance, we can get people the care they need faster. “FMR makes a real difference – when patients experiencing cardiac arrest are shocked by an Automated External Defibrillator before paramedics arrive, an incredible 63 per cent survive. "This is compared to just seven per cent when there was no bystander CPR or AED use.” Beechworth Fire Brigade members can now respond to select medical Triple Zero calls.

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