Life-saving device often tucked away
About once a week Gareth Jenkin walks into a building he hasn’t been in before, and asks an employee one question. Do you have a defibrillator? He’ll often beat his chest, underneath his right collar bone and beneath his left rib imitating the effect of a defibrillator, also known as an AED.
‘‘People cotton on,’’ Jenkin said.
A resuscitation coordinator and former paramedic, Jenkin founded AED Locations, a national database that pinpoints all known AEDs in the community.
He has located about 6000 defibrillators across the country but is still struggling to convince businesses to display them more clearly.
Businesses care more about their image and decor than making lifesaving equipment readily available, Jenkin said.
‘‘When I speak to managers of buildings or facilities they say we don’t need signage here, there is enough signage. A lot of people keep them in a Harry Potter cupboard with no signage.
‘‘They don’t want to put a defibrillator in a cabinet where it can be seen by everyone.’’
A good example of a well sign posted AED machine was the recently installed Upper Hutt Station AED.
‘‘There is no point having a lifesaving piece of equipment tucked away,’’ Wellington Free Ambulance’s Heartbeat Coordinator Amy Williams said.
‘‘Wellington Free Ambulance ensure that when a new AED is put into the Wellington region, it is either mounted in an external public accessible location with 24hour access or if to be kept inside, that it is readily available to anyone requiring to use it.’’
‘‘They are totally automated and easy to use.’’